Rosebuds at Twilight
by Silver tongued Poet
Summary: Emmett McCarty has only been working at the Hale Auto Repair shop for a couple of days and everything was going great until he came in at the wrong place at the right time. Can he help her to trust men again? Can she help him get over his past? ExR AU
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

I had no warning as his lips crashed against mine with a sudden intensity that would have taken my breath away if he had allowed me to breathe. He had forced me up against the wall while his friends were looking on. Each one had the same hungry expression in their eyes, the same one that matched his.

They laughed as they heard my cries of pain as he dug his fingernails into my skin at my shoulder and slowly dragged them down my arms, all the while kissing my lips and forcing his tongue down my throat.

I looked around trying to find something with which to hit him with trying to make an escape.

"Oh no you don't!" He growled in my ear as he grabbed my wrists, squeezed them tightly and slammed my arms into the wall, forcing me to lay flat against the wall.

His friends laughed at me as I cried out again. It didn't matter where I looked I saw their sneering faces, anticipating their enjoyment of my torture. I tried to stifle my cries knowing that would only increase their pleasure.

I was wondering where my father was, he should have heard my cries and their laugher by now.

It was then that I remembered that no one was there. They were all out to lunch. No one was going to come and save me. I was going to be beaten, multiple times, and possibly murdered and the only witnesses was the man who had his whole body pressed up against mine and the four onlookers that were waiting for their turn.

In the same instance I also realized that I was nothing to him. All of those weeks thinking that he loved me and cared about me were just a joke to him. I was just his possession, his toy that he could use as he wished and share with his friends. I couldn't stop my cry of pain as this realization hit. He misunderstood it.

"Do you like that Baby?" He whispered in my ear, his teeth nearly piercing the skin of my ear lobe.

He didn't give me a chance to respond as he brought his lips back to mine.

I gave up then, I shut down, not allowing myself to feel anymore, and yes it still hurt, every bruise, every gash from his nails or teeth, every scratch that I got from him pounding me against the wall and where the cinderblock rubbed my bare skin.

But I never made another sound. He seemed to notice the difference.

"Don't be like that Baby." He sighed slightly. He released me, taking a few steps away from me, I collapsed onto the floor.

He started slowly removing every piece of clothing that I had on, like we were playing strip poker and I was loosing. He exaggerated each motion like he wanted a reason to touch me a little while longer. I didn't care how long he took. It kept the pain at bay for a couple of minutes. I was down to my undergarments and shoes when he took a step back and started to unbutton his shirt.

He stopped as we heard a noise coming from the door of the shop.

"Is anyone in here?"

I couldn't see him, my view was blocked by a car, but I knew who he was by the sound of his voice. It was the new custodian that my daddy had hired to help around the shop, Emmett McCarty. Apparently he had come back from lunch early.

"What the –?" he trailed off as he, I assumed, looked at the four men standing there looking at him. My boyfriend, Royce King, rose slowly. "I thought you guys were on lunch break."

"We are." Royce replied, and then amended. "Sort of."

I stiffened on the floor as they started laughing again. I dared not breathe nor draw attention to myself fearing that Emmett might notice me and want to join in. I had no idea how he would react to seeing me. He was only hired just the other day. I didn't know anything about him. As long as the men's attention was otherwise drawn, I was spared for a few more moments.

"I don't know what that was for." Emmett said in reference to their laughter. "But I know the boss is not going to be happy if he finds out that you guys were in here eating in here, and that you brought in your friends."

"Oh, my apologies Mr. Suck-up-to-the-boss man." Royce sneered as he waked away from me and towards the door. One of his friends dared a glance down at me and then followed the rest behind Royce. "We left a mess over there, would you mind cleaning it up, since that is _your_ job?" I could barely hear his whispered comment. His friends' laughter roared behind him.

I listened as their footsteps went outside and went out of my range of hearing. I also listened for Emmett. What was he going to do? Check to see what kind of 'mess' they had made, or leave and go on his lunch break.

As much as I hoped it was the latter, hope disappeared as I heard him approach.

I could see him now through the windows of the car, though his eyes were turned away from mine, looking back at the door, after Royce, wondering what had happened before he came in.

I could see his top half; he was wearing his work shirt, unbuttoned completely to reveal a white tank top that stuck to his profound musculature due to the exertion of a long morning's work in the 90 degree weather. His face, having well defined angles, still looked babyish though I knew he was 20 years old. His dark brown hair was matted on top of his head in curly patterns from the sweat that seemed to cover him from head to toe.

Though he was so imposing in the physical sense of the word, he still had an innocent quality to him that I had found endearing this morning. I remember him smiling at me as he greeted my daddy and me, seeing the dimples form in his cheeks, watching the way his bright blue eyes sparkled when he addressed me.

After what Royce had done, I found nothing innocent in him. He was just like them, all men were the same, they only thought of women as possessions, something to be had and to be used at their disposal.

I lost control of my silence as a shocked cry left my lips and was carried through the air into his ears. He turned to me finally where I lay on the floor with my clothes arranged haphazardly around me. I didn't like the intensity of his stare. His blue eyes were no longer sparkling. They were hard like gemstones and bored into mine.

I heard him mutter something under his breath with his slight southern accent as he ran to the other side of the car.

I started shaking uncontrollably as my tears flowed freely down my face and my cries ripped through my body. I searched desperately for my clothes through my blurry vision impaired by tears. Each piece I was able to retrieve I held to my self shielding me from him, however pointless it may have been.

I was searching for my work shirt when I noticed he had taken a few steps forward to kneel and grab my shirt off the floor to hand it to me. I cringed away from his offering hand and scrambled farther away from him.

"I was only going to give this back to you." I could tell that he was trying not to scare me again by using a small calming tone, but I didn't dare look at him. I could see that he dropped my shirt and then stood up. "I'll give you a sec to put your clothes back on." I saw his boots turn away from me and walk over to the other side of the car. The car slumped toward me as he leaned up against it.

I waited for a few moment's wondering if he was going to leave or just stand there, trying to look at me through the side mirrors. After a few seconds of him just sitting there, breathing in and out calmly and steadily, I figured he wasn't going to leave.

I quickly went to drag my Bermuda shorts back on, wincing as the fabric hit sensitive areas. I held my breath as I pulled my tank top over my head so as not to cry out again. My arms were sore and I had one really bad gash on my right shoulder from where Royce slammed me against the wall the first time. I quickly scurried over to where Emmett had dropped my work shirt and pulled my arms through the short sleeves.

Not knowing what else to do I just sat there, afraid to move to stand thinking my legs wouldn't support me.

I hadn't heard Emmett come back around the car. I gasped in surprise as I saw his hand outstretched, palm up, towards me. I scooted farther away from him as I finally looked into his eyes. They were no longer hard and intense, but soft and sparkling again, looking ashamed as well as concerned at the same time.

"I'm sorry." He slowly pulled his hand back. "I was only going to offer to help you stand up. But I can understand your reaction after what you just went through." He dropped his head down to my level. "I promise you, I will _never_ hurt you like that, ever."

His eyes burned with a different type of intensity, one that I wasn't scared of but had a seal of a promise in it.

He offered me his hand again, not just in offering me help but asking me to trust him. I looked at him for a long moment, biting my lip. Should I trust just his word, or not? He seemed to have reverted back to the innocent looking boy that I saw not just three hours previously. He just sat there, hand still extended towards me while I sat in an internal debate.

He finally sighed. "Look, whether or not you trust me, your father, my boss, is going to come back from lunch in an hour. I'm sure you don't want him to see you like this and _I_ don't want him to see you like this with me here alone with you." He paused. "I _really _need this job."

I couldn't understand his little speech but saw the fear in his eyes as he said the last line. Surely he didn't think Daddy was going to fire him if he caught us here together all alone, well that is if I have anything to say about it.

I saw my hand shake as I forced it to rise up to his waiting hand. He grasped it lightly in his strong hand trying not to harm me anymore than I was already.

I was right about my legs. I fell into him as my legs betrayed me. I stiffened, wary of his reaction. He simply drew my arm over his shoulder and helped me wobble over to the bathroom. I swiftly closed the door and locked it into place. At least I knew that he couldn't come and get me and if Royce showed back up he couldn't get me either.

I looked at my shocked and scared face in the mirror. The dim light cast shadows over my face but I turned to see which shadow's stayed in place, they were the bruises. I also noticed a shallow gash on my right cheek that matched the one on my shoulder. I saw my mirror self reach up and touch her cheek making me wince in discomfort. She pulled her hand away from her face and I looked down to see my fingers were stained with blood. The right shoulder of my shirt was turning dark with blood as well from my shoulder.

Other than those places, I wasn't bleeding anywhere else. It was just bruises that I had to figure out how to hide in an hour's time when my daddy and the other mechanics would come back from lunch.

"Oh no!" I groaned as the realization hit me.

"Is everything ok in there?" I could here Emmett on the other side of the door. I didn't answer him; I had almost forgotten that he was there. I grasped the sink for support. My will was the only thing that was keeping me upright.

"Are you ok?" He asked trying to open the door. He twisted it several times before he gave up. "I swear if you don't open this door right now I'll bust it down."

My eyes were wide at his threat. "It will come out of your pay." I could here myself whisper. From his reaction earlier I thought that was the only thing that would stop him.

"I don't care." I couldn't believe he said that, if he truly meant it when he said he needed this job. I must have misunderstood him. "I'm giving you to the count of three to open this door. One… two…"

"Alright, alright!" I yelled as my hands fumbled for the door lock and I cracked the door slightly so he could see that I was fine, sort of.

"Come on out." He said, trying not to sound threatening anymore. "I'm not going to hurt you I just want to clean up your face so you won't look so… bad." He hesitated, looking to find a word that would describe how I looked. I noticed that he was holding the small white first aid kit that Daddy kept behind the desk.

"It doesn't matter." I said as I came out and closed the door behind my back not wanting to have my back to him "The blood is already soaked into my clothes."

He reached over onto the hood of the car he was leaning against. He then presented me with a three-quarter length sleeved purple shirt and Capri pants that would cover most of the bruses. "I had these in my car. I thought they might fit you." He put them back on the hood of the car so he could offer me his hand.

My back was pressed up against the bathroom door as far away from him as I could get, trying to ignore the pain and the memories. I still was unsure of his intentions, was he _really_ trying to help me, or was he trying to make sure I wouldn't tell Daddy that there had been five witnesses.

As if he could read my mind, he said. "I just want to help you." He smiled a little, his dimple's barely peaking out.

At that I had to laugh nervously a little. It was so strange that this huge, intimidating man could have such a boyish face. I tried to stop as he stared at me like I had lost it.

"I'm sorry." I said between my fingers. "I don't mean to make fun of you."

"It's ok, you've had a bad day I'm sure." He smiled at me reassuringly. "I just want to help you and keep you away from those lowlifes." He growled. I shifted further away from him. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you again." He looked like he wanted to take a step towards me but then thought better of it knowing how terrified I was.

I looked at him then and finally decided that I could trust him and that he didn't want to harm me, at the time. He just wanted to help me, just like he said.

I took slow, deliberate steps towards him. I noticed the relief on his face when I reached out to touch his hand.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Emmett clarified, again. "I'm just going to pick you up and set you on top of the hood so I can take better care of you." He was talking to me like I was a four year old child rather than an 18 year old girl, but at the moment I didn't care.

I nodded and tried not to cry out as he put his strong hands on my waist and hoisted me up onto the hood. He muttered apologies as he let go of me. I held onto his broad shoulders while my breathing tried to return to normal.

He didn't look at me as he rummaged through the contents of the first aid kit.

"Can you sit there for a sec?" He asked me "I need to go grab a clean towel."

I nodded, releasing my grip on his shoulders and allowing them to rest on the cold metal of the car. It didn't hit me until he disappeared into the back of the shop that it was the first time that he had left me since he found me, though he had obviously left me in the bathroom to go get the kit and the spare clothes. But I had locked myself in, I wasn't afraid then.

It scared me to be alone in the shop, every sound, whether he made them in the back or if it was just the store's usual sounds, made me jump.

I looked at the clothes, trying to keep my mind away from such thoughts, and realized that I was going to put on some other woman's clothes and I had no idea where they came from. For all I knew they belong to his sister, or girlfriend. It would be rude to ask him out right, and did I really want to know more about someone who in one minute can be kind and trustworthy and the next have me up against the wall hurting me and frightening me.

I pushed the clothes away from me, it seemed like anything I thought about would turn down that dark road that I didn't want to go back down.

I closed my eyes and tried not to think. So I was startled when I heard the radio being turned on. Elvis Presley's unique voice filled the air with my favorite song: _Can't Help Falling in Love With You_. It was calming and was the distraction I wanted. I opened my eyes to see him walking out of the back room with a towel in his hand.

"I just can't stop scaring you can I?" He noted as he smiled at me apologetically.

"You didn't scare me." I told him with a small smile. "I was just surprised that's all." I closed my eyes again and let the lyrics lull me back into a simpler time, when I didn't fear men, when they had doted upon me because I was pretty. My mother told me to cherish my beauty every night she combed my long blonde hair. When she told me to cherish my beauty while it lasted because it was a fickle thing. It could betray you at any moment and you had to find someone to marry quickly before it fades away, or you might end up alone.

_Wise men say only fools rush in._ The words were poetic enough. I had been a fool to fall in love with the first man who offered himself to me. He would leave roses in the seat of my car every day before he left work and never missed an opportunity to tell me I was pretty and force other's to tell me that I was pretty. I remembered loving the attention and being loved by someone other than my family, and being the envy of all the other girls at school.

I shoved away those thoughts as he came to where I was sitting. I made my hands relax where I had formed tight fists. I could feel my nails pressing into my skin.

"Are you ok?" He asked with concern. My face must have betrayed my thoughts.

"It's alright. I really don't want to talk about it right now." I looked away from him.

"Oh, ok." He seemed to know where my thoughts were, or at least he guessed. He turned back to his work. I saw him pull out a small bottle. The smell hit me hard as he opened the bottle. "Sorry, it smells really horrible." He wrinkled his nose as he dabbed the end of the cloth in the bottle. "This is gonna sting, but it's going to make it feel better."

"What is it?" I asked as I watched him bring the towel up to my face and lightly pressed it to my face. I tried not to make a face as the liquid stung my skin.

"It's hydrogen peroxide." He said pulling the towel away to examine my wound. "It helps kill infection, if it bubbles the wound is infected, but it wont burn for long." He used the dry end of the towel to clean the wound and then repeated the action with the end that had the peroxide on it.

I watched his face as he went to work. He seemed calm, almost happy to be taking care of me. It was odd to see a man that looked as he did physically to be doing something so domestic. It reminded me of how my mother would treat me when I was young. My cheek seemed to be burning more now than it was when he started so I tried to distract myself by making conversation with him.

"Since when does a custodian know how to treat wounds?" I hoped my question wouldn't offend him.

It didn't, he laughed and answered my question. "My little sister used to get into a lot of trouble when she was younger. Not a day went by that she didn't come back in the house with a scrape or a bruise or something worse." He laughed at some memory. Apparently he doted on his sister like a parent would. But it made no sense that he would have to take care of his sister. I was almost hesitant to ask but he had just taken pressure off of my face and it stung as the air hit it.

"Where were your parents when she came home?"

He stopped moving, I was pretty sure he stopped breathing as well. I knew that it was information that he didn't want to share, least of all to a girl that he just met.

"I'm sorry." I whispered as I lowered my eyes, regretting asking the stupid question. "I shouldn't have asked you such a personal question." I tried to get down but he stopped me.

"It's ok, I know you didn't mean anything by it. It's just a not subject I like to think about. And I'm not done taking care of you." He smiled a little to show me I was forgiven, at least that's what I thought he meant.

"So do you have any other siblings?" I asked trying to get the sad look out of his eyes.

"I have my little sister, Alice and a little brother, Edward." He said with an air of affection. "Alice is 9 and Edward is 15."

I didn't ask about his parents and he didn't offer any information about them.

"What about you? Do you have any siblings?"

"I have a younger brother, Jasper, he's 9, and Bella she's 14."

"They sound nice." He commented simply.

"Yes they are nice." Jasper and Bella don't spend time with each other. Jasper mostly stayed in his room listening to music, and Bella stayed in her room reading. They had always been this way since the accident.

He laughed and then sighed. "Alice and Edward get into fights all the time. I have to referee a lot of times when their arguments get a little out of hand."

He was finally done with the peroxide and smoothed an extra large bandage onto my cheek. He had to remind himself to be gentle with me. Even though he was skilled in healing others his large strong hands still weren't made for the task.

"Is there any other places that are bleeding?" He asked me, about to put the cap back on the peroxide.

"Just my right shoulder." I touched the spot lightly, the blood was starting to dry on my shirt. "I think I hit the wall a little too hard."

"Hummm….." he thought as he watched me taking off my work shirt to show him the wound. "That's another thing we have to think about. What are we going to tell your father?"

I hadn't really thought about it after being in the bathroom. "I guess I can tell him that I fell and hit the ground. It seems to make the most sense and Daddy doesn't pay much attention to things like that." The only thing that he would do is yell at me for being in the shop when no one else was around but I could live with that.

"Ok, I'll go along with that. I'm not sure I can get through the rest of the day seeing that… _monster_ though." His frown looked wrong on his boyish face.

I repressed a shudder as I remembered that forgotten detail. I glanced at the clock, in fifteen minutes the mechanics would come back to work, along with Royce, Daddy's most prized mechanic.

"I may have to go home sick." He admitted sheepishly.

"I don't want you to leave!" My voice betrayed how frightened I was. "I'm scared of what might happen to me if you leave!" I grabbed his arm with more force then I should have but I didn't care. As much as I was scared _of_ him, I was equally afraid of him not being around to protect me.

"Then I'll stay if that's what you want." He tried to hide his smile as he repeated the process that he did with my face onto my shoulder.

He wasn't able to give my shoulder as much attention as my face because we heard the sounds of mechanics returning to work.

"Here." He handed me the clothes. "Go change in the bathroom. Can you put this bandage on your arm?"

"I think so." I smiled at him.

"Ok, I won't be out here when you come out, so no one can come up with any wrong conclusions. But as soon as _he_ comes in I'll be where you can see me, and he can." he flexed his muscle's to emphasize the statement.

I nodded, trying to stifle the fear I felt. He moved to walk away from me but I stopped him by grabbing his hand. He turned back to me with a hesitant expression.

"I forgot to tell you something." I smiled. "Thank you, for everything."

He smiled back at me. "You're welcome." Then he looked unsure as to what to do next, but then the sounds of someone coming through the front of the shop had him nearly running away from me.

I quickly ran into the bathroom and put the bandage on my shoulder. I didn't look as gory as I did the last time I came in here and I quickly changed clothes. When I looked back in the mirror I could tell that Daddy wouldn't notice the few bruses that were visible.

I peaked out the door before coming out all the way. I walked out into the back room where all the cleaning supplies were, no one was there. I deposited my clothes in my trunk. When I walked around to the left side of my car, I froze in place when I looked over into my car and saw the single red rose sitting in the driver's seat.

I shivered in the 90 degree weather and ran for the front door.

**So here's my new story, I hope you guys like it! :) Comments and reviews are appreciated! I have about three or four chapters written already so updates should be coming sooner than I usually do! Maybe if I can write two or three chapters before I update then I could update more often! (Or at least thats what I'm hoping for!) So if you took the time to read this, I would really love to hear from you! :)**

**~STP**


	2. Chapter 2

**~Chapter Two~**

I walked through the front door of the shop to see Daddy in a conversation with another man. They were talking about cars so I assumed that he was talking to a customer. I quietly made my way over to the front desk.

"Were taking a trip to Florida next week and I need my car back by then. Can your mechanics handle that?" The man asked with a skeptical look on his face.

"Can my boy's handle it?" Daddy laughed heartily as he patted the other man's shoulder "I'll have Royce King look at it." He smiled. "He's the best mechanic there is."

I pulled my hair from behind my right ear to try and hide the bandage easier. I tried not to pay attention to Daddy as he told the man all about the fabulous Royce King.

"Yes, Royce King is the best mechanic I've ever had the pleasure of teaching. Why, even my little Rosie is obsessed with him." Daddy turned to look at me. "Isn't that right Rose?"

I swallowed back the words that I wanted to say and said, "He's certainly a great mechanic sir." and went back to my work.

I heard the bell above the door chime as the man left the shop.

"Rose?" Daddy came over to my desk and turned my face to the left. "What happened?"

"It was just me being clumsy." I said.

Then Emmett came through the shop doors and started cleaning on the other side of the room.

"I was coming back in from lunch and I tripped over something lying in the floor, it looks worse than it really is." I tried to blow it off like it _was _nothing.

"Oh." He released my face. "How was you're little lunch date thing?"

I dared not to look in Emmett's direction, fearing what his face looked like.

"Lunch was great. I had a really good time." I went back to my filing hoping he would just drop it. It wasn't a lie because after Royce left it I eventually had a good time with Emmett.

He stormed away from me, I thought he was headed for Emmett, somehow sensing he was involved since his is the custodian, but he went through the doors and waited till the doors were shut before he started yelling at the mechanics that were there. I tried not to laugh as he told them I had tripped over something and they had better start picking up after themselves. I could barely make out the response but I knew Royce's voice as soon as I heard it.

"Why aren't you yelling at McCarty?" He asked. "Isn't that what you hired him for?"

"I hired him to take out the trash and sweep up the floors. Not clean up _your_ messes. If you don't like it King, there's the door!" I had never heard Daddy speak like that to Royce. "You're my best mechanic Royce but if you can't start treating every employee in here as you do me and my daughter then I _will_ fire you."

I looked at Emmett, who was just as shocked as I was to hear the words coming out of Daddy's mouth. We both looked at him as he burst through the doors.

"McCarty." He nodded at Emmett.

"Mr. Hale." Emmett nodded back.

"Rose, if anyone needs me I'll be in my office." He didn't look at me as he walked to his office door.

"Alright Daddy." I waited until the door was closed and I could hear the muffled sound of him sitting in his chair.

I looked at Emmett and held my hand over my face to silence my laughter. Emmett chuckled softly as he walked over to my desk.

"I don't think I've ever heard Mr. Hale yell at them like that."

"Oh it's just because you're new." I assured him. "And that I was the one who got hurt. He's a little protective."

"Ya think?" Emmett grinned as he went into his cart and pulled out a white paper bag. "I figured you would want one of these since you didn't get to have lunch today."

I opened the bag to find a hot dog and half an order of French fries from the diner just down the street.

"Thanks Emmett." I smiled at him as I nearly scarfed the whole thing down in one bite.

He chuckled and went out to the vending machine that was outside. Daddy had bought it about three months ago to try and get more money. The man who sold it to us told us it would pay for itself in less than a month and here we were three months later still trying to pay it off. Well at least we were three dollars closer to paying it off.

He came back in with two cokes. "Here's to you." He toasted me.

The rest of the day passed slowly. Not many people ventured out when it was this hot outside. Most stayed indoors crowded around their air conditioners.

School was finally out for the summer, which was good because I could spend more time at the shop and with Emmett. Before today I would have said Royce but I wanted to stay far away from him….

The only incident came towards the end of the day when most of the mechanics had already gone home. Royce busted through the doors and sauntered over to my desk. Daddy was on the phone with someone so he couldn't hear anything and the glass window in his door was disfigured so he couldn't see out and no one could see in. Emmett was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Gorgeous." Royce licked his lips as he ran his hand down my right arm. I cringed away from him and winced as the motion sent pain through my shoulder. "Sorry I hurt you earlier. I didn't mean it. I just thought you wanted it. All you had to do was tell me no." he grinned as he had to remind himself time and time again to look up.

"Then why did we need an audience?" I could barely make the words come out of my mouth.

"I could have told the guys to leave if you asked me to Baby." He reached for me again, this time caressing my face, touching the bandage there. "All you had to do was say so."

"You didn't give me much of an opportunity to object." I tried to back away from him but I hit the wall all too soon. He had me backed into a corner.

I considered screaming. At least for Daddy because he was closer but who I really wanted was Emmett. My eyes frantically went from Royce to the door then back to him.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about McCarty." Royce guessed my thoughts. "He's… busy." He smirked.

"What did you do to him?" In an instant my fear for myself turned into hatred for whatever Royce had done to Emmett. "If you've hurt him I swear-!"

"What are you going to do?" He was in my face then, his hot breath blowing all over my face. His face was twisted into a fearsome grin. "Tell Daddy?" He pointed towards his door. "I know you told him about me giving you that." He put his finger on the bandage until it started turning red with the blood that was coming out of my wound. "He wouldn't have stuck up for McCarty if you hadn't." I turned my face away from his finger to relieve its pressure on my face. "Look at me!" He hissed. He grabbed my face and squeezed until I cried out in pain and tears tumbled over his fingers. "You are _mine_. You are mine for the taking and I can do whatever I'd like with you. And if McCarty barges in on me again, I won't be so forgiving."

He dropped my face and walked through the front door out to his car.

For the second time today I slumped onto the ground. Once I had gotten a hold on my fear, I checked my face, making sure there was no blood escaping the bandage. Then I grabbed the medical kit that Emmett had put back in its place and raced through the shop calling out his name.

"Emmett!" I had started to cry and I didn't think he would understand me.

"Rose?" I heard him whisper.

"Emmett! Where are you?" I started listening for the sound of his voice.

"Over here, by the blue VW."

I found the car and went over to where he was. I tried not to gasp as I looked at him.

He was sitting in a pile of cleaning supplies. A couple of mops had been broken, from the looks of it, over his head and he had many huge purple marks all over him. Parts of his clothing were ripped and torn he was panting and clutching his side.

"Oh… Emmett." I cried as I dropped the kit and knelt by his side. "What have they done to you?" I reached up to touch his face and he looked at me. I could only see one eye; the other was already swollen shut.

"Don't worry about me. Are you ok?" He asked me fiercely. He didn't care if he was beaten to the point of death; he just wanted to know if I was ok.

"I'm fine." I assured him. "He didn't hurt me." He looked at the bandage on my face and I knew he saw the fresh blood stain there. "Well, not as bad." I amended.

He tried to stand up and then fell back down. He looked so helpless I had no choice but to try and help him.

"Stay here." I ordered him and then got up to walk towards the front.

"Where are you going?" he asked grabbing the bottom of my dress.

"Don't worry." I smiled as I knelt down again to touch his face. "I'm going to go put the kit back up, tell Daddy I'm leaving and then I'm helping you get out to my car so I can take you to the hospital and I don't want to hear anything about it."

"No Rose please don't take me there!" He said fiercely.

"Why not?" I demanded. He was being absolutely ridiculous. Either that or he was delusional.

"Because it will raise way too many questions." He grabbed the side of the car for support as he pulled himself up. "I don't want you to get involved and have to explain what happened today to your father."

"But you're hurt!" I protested as I offered to help him.

"It's not that bad, just a few bruises and cuts. No broken bones I think." He smiled a little half smile.

"Well at least let me drive you home." I made a compromise. Emmett didn't have a car and walked down to the bus stop every day to go home. I didn't even know where he lived.

"Fine." He agreed. He limped over to the back where my car was while I went up to the front.

I knocked on Daddy's door and stuck my head in.

"What is it Rose?" He looked up from his paper.

"I'm going to leave early. I promised Vera that I would come by her house today." I hoped the lie wasn't written all over my face.

"Oh, ok well be back home soon. Mrs. Jenkins will be leaving at six o'clock and she's leaving supper in the oven."

"Ok, Daddy. Bye, love you!"

"Love you too sweetheart." He smiled at me before I closed the door.

Now that the deception is over I was ready to get on the road.

I didn't look at the rose that was sitting in the driver's side seat. I pulled it out and stepped on it a few times then got back in the car. Emmett didn't say anything about it while he tried to position himself on some towels that he had grabbed out of the back room so he wouldn't get anything on my car. As I started the car, I hoped I ran over the rose.

"Don't you think it's funny that our roles are reversed now?" I asked him when we were on the highway.

He laughed a little then winced when it hurt. "Yea, I guess it does."

With simple and easy to follow instructions, he directed me to his house.

It was a two story house that had blue siding and black shutters on the windows. There was one small tree in the front yard which was sealed off by a white picket fence.

"Rose, I want you to go home." Emmett ordered as I pulled up to the curb and turned off the car.

"I am not leaving you here." I had no intentions of leaving him. How would I know if he was ok or not? How could he get in touch with me to tell me he was alright? And what if my father answered the phone before I could get to it? There were too many questions and not enough answers.

"Yes you are. You being here with me could put us both in awkward positions. You're dad would find out you lied to him today, and I couldn't explain it to my family. I don't want anything to happen to you. Go to you're friend's house, I'll be fine, trust me." The one eye that I could see sparkled with the intensity of his concern.

There he was, asking me to trust him again. He didn't want me to be hurt, no matter what it cost him. I deliberated for a second and then reached over into the glove compartment, pulling out a pen and paper.

"Fine. I trust you. But call me on my cell as soon as you feel better, ok?" I pushed the slip of paper into his hands. "Unless you want me to be a nervous wreck all night then you had better call me." I threatened.

"I promise I'll call you." He smiled and then hesitated.

I didn't understand his reaction. It was like earlier when the mechanics started arriving back to work. He looked like he wanted to do something and then thought better of it. But now there was no fear of being interrupted. He surprised me by swiftly reaching over and softly placing his lips to my forehead before getting out and heading towards the front door.

All I could do was stare at his back and wonder why the skin of my forehead was tingling. That never happened when Royce kissed me, though Royce had hardly ever kissed me anywhere but on the lips. Even then, it wasn't pleasurable for me, it was all for Royce. I didn't understand it then but now I did.

He waved at me from the window and I could see a little girl standing in front of him with short black hair. I assumed that was his sister Alice. I waved back, laughing when his sister smiled at me and she was missing a front tooth.

I drove to Vera's house thinking about how it would feel if Emmett kissed me on the lips.

**Yay! I was able to upload quicker! XD First five people that send me reviews will get an exclusive sneak peak at the next chapter! So go ahead! Click the little button that says Review! I love opening up my email and seeing reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

**~Chapter Three~**

"My, you're jumpy tonight Rose." Vera's father commented. He had just hung up the phone. I had jumped up like someone had shot me and dashed for the phone. "I didn't know you wanted to talk to my mother so badly."

"I'm sorry Mr. Jones." I blushed in embarrassment.

I took my seat back beside Vera, who was flipping through the channels on the television trying to find something to watch. She settled on the news and put the remote down.

"So Rose," she turned to face me. "how was work today?"

"Oh, it was ok, I guess." I tried to push the thoughts away from earlier.

"I still can't believe you're father lets you work in that shop with a bunch of men." Mr. Jones commented sternly. "I would never let my Vera work in a place like that. You're mother wouldn't stand for it either I would hope."

"Daddy!" Vera scolded him.

"No, it's alright Vera." I kept my voice calm but ruthless. "I really wouldn't know Mr. Jones." My change in tone made his eyes trail away from the television and to my face. "My mother is dead." I continued to stare at him until it would have made me uncomfortable on any other topic.

I must have achieved my goal of making him squirm because after a few seconds, he got up and went into the other room with a muttered apology.

"I'm sorry about Dad, Rose." Vera said when her father was out of earshot. "He doesn't think before he speaks."

"It's ok Vera. I know."

"How long has it been?" She knew this was a sensitive topic for me to discuss but I knew she only wanted to make me feel better.

"Eight years." I struggled to keep myself in the present. Not wanting to dwell on uncomfortable memories. The fear of wondering where she was after she was an hour late in coming home from work, Daddy yelling into the phone with the police fearing she'd gone missing or worse, the dread as we saw the blue lights flash into the house through the windows, the sad expression on the sheriff's face as he told my father that they'd found her….

"I'm so sorry Rose." Vera repeated, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

I turned away from her, wiping the tears that fell from my eyes. I remembered Daddy sending me, Jasper, and Bella to our rooms and following the sheriff out onto the porch. Bella went straight to sleep, our room was directly over the porch so if I listened really intently…

"_Mr. Hale, I'm afraid that you're wife has been killed in a car accident." The sheriff delivered the news bluntly. Not trying to break the news gently, like ripping a bandage off quickly, that way it would hurt less._

_It never does._

_Daddy was quiet for a moment. "Are you sure?"_

"_We took in Mr. Hopkins, the other driver, for questioning. He'd been drinking, and then decided to get in to his car and drive. He veered over into the other lane and hit Mrs. Hale head on. The car behind her pulled over and called 911. She was pronounced dead at the scene."_

_Daddy didn't say anything, I could hear strangled sobs coming from him._

"_I'm so sorry for your loss. We will need you to come down to the hospital to identify the body and to also work out funeral arrangements. I also came to ask you how you are going to tell this to your children. Sometimes it works better coming from someone they don't know. I-"_

"_No." I could barely hear Daddy's reply. "I think this is the kind of news that I must tell them."_

Mom was the victim of someone else's carelessness, a man's no less. Daddy gave us speeches all the time about how if he ever caught any of us drinking, legally or not, that he… well he never finished his threat. I was reminded of how I could have met a similar fate as my mom's this morning, though under different circumstances. Royce knew exactly what he was doing, he didn't have the excuse of 'being under the influence'. I couldn't help but shiver as my mind processed the day's events.

"What's wrong Rose?" I heard Vera ask me. "You're shaking all over."

"Oh Vera!" I cried as I grabbed her in a hug. I cried hard into her shoulders. The shock had worn off and I realized how lucky I was to be alive.

"Goodness Rose, please tell me what's wrong?" Vera demanded, surprised by my sudden attack, and the tears that she couldn't understand that were soaking into the shoulder of her shirt.

"I lied about work." I managed to get out between out of control breaths. "Something _did_ happen."

"Why don't you tell me?" She suggested. She knew that by talking about it I would feel better. She knew me so well.

"Ok, but close the door first, I don't want anyone else to hear this."

I tried not to remember the events as I recounted them to my friend, as well as not looking at her shocked face.

"My word Rose!" She whispered. "You should go to the police!"

I laughed humorlessly. "Yea, that would go over real well. I can't go up to the sheriff and say: 'Sheriff, you're son almost sexually assaulted me with his friends watching.'"

"That doesn't change the circumstances!" Vera was outraged. "You could have died, and that little… I'm so mad I don't know what to call him! He could just walk away thinking he can literally get away with murder and no one can say anything about it because he's the Sheriff's son!" Her face turned from anger to confusion. "Wait, _almost_?"

She hadn't let me explain about Emmett. "You didn't let me finish. The new guy that Daddy hired last week came in before Royce could do anything."

"Wow, talk about perfect timing."

"Yea, he forced Royce to leave and then saw me lying there…."

I didn't want to know what was going through his head when he first saw me.

"I was afraid of him at first, wondering if he was going to hurt me too. But he was really kind and gentle. He took care of me Vera, and didn't once try and take advantage of the situation. He's different than the rest. He bought me lunch and then -" I broke off mid sentence. Emmett's busted up face came into view in my mind and I couldn't help the new tears that threatened to escape the rim of my eyes.

"What happened then?" Vera looked afraid to ask.

"Royce's friends were beating Emmett up while he was threatening me in the front office."

"That's horrible!" Vera covered her mouth in disgust.

I explained what happened after that and how anxious I was getting that he hadn't called me.

"Well that explains your reaction to the phone tonight." Vera commented.

"Yea. I'm really getting worried now." I checked my phone again, willing it to ring. "I know you probably already know this, but please don't breathe a word of this to anyone!"

"Don't worry Rose." She promised me. "Even though it goes against my better judgment."

"Thanks." I was relieved. "I'll call you if he calls me at home so you won't have to stay up all night worrying."

I left after that with Vera's concern and Mr. Jones's inquisitiveness following me out to the car. When I got home I went straight for the stairs to my room.

"Supper's waiting for you Rose." I heard Daddy call me from the living room.

"Thanks but I'm not really hungry." I said staring at my phone while I climbed the steps.

"Well would you mind wrapping it up and putting it in the refrigerator? You may get hungry later."

I suppressed a groan as walked to the kitchen and hastily wrapped up the steak and potatoes, which would have really looked good if I hadn't been stressed, and shoved them in the refrigerator and went back to the stairs. Stupid me didn't think to get _his_ number so I could just call him myself, oh well, I couldn't dwell on that.

After two hours of worried waiting, my familiar ringtone broke through my focus.

"Hello?" I asked, holding my breath.

"Rose? It's me Emmett." I felt like crying again when I heard his deep voice on the other end.

"Thank goodness." I breathed a sigh of relief, at least he _sounded_ ok. "Are you alright?"

"Yea, I got checked out by my uncle when he came home. He said that it wasn't serious."

"Does your uncle have a medical degree that I didn't know about?"

He laughed. "I guess so. My uncle is a doctor at the one hospital in town."

_That's why he didn't want to go to the hospital._ I thought to myself. He didn't want his uncle to know that I was involved. I wondered why but thought this wasn't the best time to ask. "Oh." That was my brilliant response.

"You didn't tell your friend about what happened did you? I don't want to drag her into this as well."

"Well, she kinda is." I admitted sheepishly. "I freaked out at her house as the shock of the day's 'activities' wore off. She wants me to go to the police."

"You should. Either that or I rip that smug little smile off that face of his." He growled. "I can't believe I let those morons get to me like that when I knew it was a ploy to get you alone, not to mention it gave them an excuse to pummel the crap out of me."

"I can't." He was just like Vera. "You don't understand my family's relationship with the Sheriff." I tried to whisper thinking Daddy or Jasper might overhear me, or Bella might come into the room that we shared.

"Well help me to understand."

I hesitated. I wanted to talk to him about it, maybe he could help. But I also didn't want to have to explain to Daddy who I was on the phone with.

"I'll tell you later." I finally decided, tell him that I would explain, just not now. "I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe we can do lunch?"

"Lunch?" I could almost hear the smile in his voice at the simple question.

"Well I can't go with _him_ and I just feel… _safe_ with you." I admitted shyly. "Like you won't let anyone or anything hurt me."

"I won't." all the humor was gone out of his voice, leaving intense fervor in its wake. "I made you a promise didn't I?"

"You did." I couldn't help but blush and was glad that he couldn't see me. That would have been embarrassing. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok, bye."

I hung up and then dialed Vera's number.

"I wanna come down and meet this 'new guy'." She demanded.

"Vera, I don't want you to get hurt. If Royce even thinks that you know anything, he'd come after you and then me." I knew that's what would happen after his reaction to Emmett….

"I don't care. It sounds like this guy is good for you and I want to meet him."

I sighed, once she was determined to do something there was no stopping her.

"Fine. Come down at lunch though."

I had dreams and nightmares all night. It was easy to distinguish between the two. There was only one difference, the two men that fluctuated between them. My strong protector watched over my dreams and my attacker stalked my nightmares.

"Emmett, this is my friend Vera Jones." I sighed as I finally agreed to introduce them after Vera's annoying pleading. "Vera, this is Emmett McCarty." I threw him an apologetic smile as I unleashed the full force of Vera on him.

"Hi." Vera sounded nervous, which was odd for her, she never met a stranger, she giggled a little. "Rose has told me _a lot_ about you."

"Really?" He laughed as he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Guilty!" I laughed.

We all laughed with the same nervous edge. We knew this was just a show for our audience. Royce and the other mechanic's were in the shop and Daddy was outside talking to a client. Royce's gaze shifted between me and Emmett. When he looked at me, it was that same look that made me cringe and have that twisting feeling in the pit of my stomach. When he looked at Emmett, it was pure and intense hatred.

"Shall we go to lunch then, Rose?" Vera asked me.

"Sure." I winked at her with the eye she could only see, and tried to nod my head in Emmett's direction without drawing too much attention.

Her eye's lit up when she got it. "Oh, Emmett do you want to come with us?"

"I guess so, if you guys don't mind." He grinned and winked at us both, thankfully his back was turned to Royce.

We followed Vera out to my car, trying not to get caught by Daddy.

"Rose?" I heard him ask.

Crap.

"Where are you three going?" His gaze fluctuated between the three of us, I assumed he was wondering which one of us would crack first.

"Vera, Emmett and I were going to grab some lunch at the diner." I finally confessed.

"I invited Emmett." Vera chimed in.

"Oh, well have a nice time." He turned to leave.

"Oh, Mr. Hale?" Vera took a step forward. Daddy turned to look at her. "Do you mind if Rose gives me a ride home? My dad left me here to run some errands."

"Sure I don't mind." He smiled at her, and then looked at Emmett. "But I want you back here in an hour McCarty." His face turned serious. "I don't pay you to take my daughter and her friends out to lunch." Then he winked. I realized that he was putting on a show for Royce since he thought that Daddy wasn't as harsh on him as the rest of the guys.

"Yes sir." Emmett gave him a military solute and winked as well.

"I'm serious about the hour though." Daddy said quietly as he shook Emmett's hand.

"Well obviously someone has become Mr. Hale's new favorite." Vera laughed as she pushed open the door to the diner.

"I wouldn't call myself that yet." Emmett smirked. "I think someone is still clinging to that title. I can't even change a tire."

"Well we're just going to have to change that!" Vera sat down in one of the classic red sparkly booths and crossed her arms and put her elbows on the polished black table top.

"Well he won't learn anything from you Vera." I remarked as I sat down beside her. "You don't know the first thing about changing tires!" I grinned.

"Rub it in!" she punched me playfully. "I think I'm the only senior in school that's failed her driving test!" she sighed.

"It's because you keep forgetting the same thing! I told you over and over again to put your hand on the passenger side headrest and look directly behind you." I demonstrated with my hands.

"Yea, that's easy for you to say!" Vera challenged me. "You learned how to drive before you could even walk!"

"Now girls let's be realistic here." Emmett grinned. He was watching us like a tennis match, back and forth and again. "I'm sure Rose's legs weren't long enough to reach the peddles then."

"Sorry." Vera's face turned pink. "We're excluding you aren't we?"

"I don't mind. It was funny."

The waitress came and got our drink orders.

"Are you two always like this?" He asked, referring to our conversation.

"Yea, I guess so." I answered him. "Vera and I have been best friends since the first grade."

"When you beat up Henry McAlister?" She guessed. "I remember that!" She laughed as she turned to Emmett. "He was teasing me about my pigtails and Rose came over and told him to beat it."

"Then he told me to buzz of, and I said, 'I guess I'm going to have to _beat_ you then'." I finished

"You got two days of no recess for that right?"

"I think so."

"Wow." Emmett smiled. "I wish I had a friend like you guys back in school."

"You didn't have any friends?" Vera asked sympathetically.

"Well, yes and no." He had to clarify. "I had friends, just not a best friend that would beat up some one for teasing me about my pigtails."

I tried not to laugh as I pictured him as a young boy with pigtails. Vera had the same problem and when we looked at each other we burst into hysterical giggles. The waitress came back with our drinks and gave us a look like she wondered how mentally stable we were.

"Can I take your order?" She asked in an annoyed tone. She started with Emmett and then got to us when our laugher was under control.

"So Emmett, how long have you lived here?" Vera asked.

"Vera that's a personal question!" I chided her.

"No, it's ok." Emmett reassured me. "My younger sibling's and I moved in with my Aunt and Uncle about two years ago."

Vera was never afraid to ask questions. A fact that Emmett soon found out about.

There were only a couple of questions that he seemed uncomfortable to answer. One was about his parent's.

"Um…" he had to swallow. "My mom died when she had my sister."

"Oh I'm so sorry!" Vera reached over and touched his hand. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No it's alright. It's been a long time ago." He waved his hand like it was nothing but I could tell from his expression that it was far from nothing.

After that minor snafu, our order's came out. We chatted occasionally while we ate and then Emmett left to go back to the shop.

"I wish you would let me take you back." I said out of desperation. I knew that if he came back alone, Royce's cohorts would jump him again.

"If the creep wants to rub me out that badly, then maybe he should. Besides the bosses favorite isn't going to touch me because I have to report to your Dad before I get back to work."

"Alright." I sighed, he was always right.

"Well don't look so happy about it." He remarked with a smile to take the sarcastic tone out of it. "I'll see you back at the shop. It was nice to meet you Vera Jones."

"See you around Emmett McCarty." She waved. "Well he's kinda amazing, huh?"

"Yea, I guess so." I smiled after him.

**By the way... All I own is the story line! Everything else belongs to Stephanie Meyer!**

**So guys tell me what you thought! Who was surprised to find out that Royce was the Sheriff's son? I bet none of you can guess how the Hale's and the Sheriff are connected... :) If you can guess correctly, I may give you a hint for the next chapter! **

**Tootles for now!**

**~STP**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay! AN at the begining! :D**

**Sorry its taken so long to upload this chapter, I've just been super busy! I really enjoyed writing this chapter and hope you guys enjoy reading it! In this chapter we get a lot of drama, and tissues will be needed... :'( And more is to come about Emmett's past (And that's all that I'm going to say about that!)**

~**Chapter Four~**

Going to eat lunch with Emmett became a regular thing, effortless.

I would walk out the front door, walking in the direction of the diner down the street, and he would walk out the back in the same direction. Once I was far enough away from the garage for Daddy, or Royce to see me come back, I rounded the block and came back in through the way Emmett went out.

He would run down to the diner and get us something, or on special occasions he actually brought something he had made at home. It still shocked me that he was into the whole domestic thing.

"How did you get so good at cooking?" I asked him one day.

"Well, I guess no matter how bad your situation is, you're always gonna eat!" He replied with a smile.

We talked about a lot of things while we sat in someone else's car, careful not to spill anything. Most of it was about me, he didn't volunteer anything about his life and I didn't ask.

About three weeks after we started eating together I offered him a proposition.

"Come outside," I tugged him along by the arm. "I have something I wanna show you."

I took him out to the back where we stored the cars that we used for spare parts, most of them were salvaged from wrecks that were only good for scrapping but there was one particular car that Daddy and me had singled out as a car that we could fix up. It was a '71 Mustang, a classic now. We found it in pretty good condition.

"Wow, you took me out here to look at scrap metal?" He commented sarcastically.

"No. I took you out here to see a car." I pointed to the mustang and walked over too it. "Daddy and me bought it thinking we could fix it up, maybe put it in a few shows to earn some extra cash. But then life happened." I laughed humorlessly. Yes life did happen, sooner than I expected. "I still want to fix it up, but I need help."

"I don't know anything about cars. I barely know how to drive them."

"You've got to be kidding me!" I laughed. It was the most ridiculous thing I had heard him say so far. "You work at a mechanic shop and don't know how to drive car?"

"First of all, I'm a _janitor_ at a mechanic shop. And second of all, a lot was going on in my life when I turned 16." By the look on his face, this was another unmentionable subject.

"Then I'll have to teach you all I know about cars and then show you how to drive one."

"Fine. You can be so stubborn when there's something you want." He remarked with a smirk.

I grinned back. "That's how I always get what I want."

Every day after that we would hurry and eat lunch so we could work on the car. He seemed to be enjoying the lessons and I was having fun because we were doing something together other than eating.

"She needs a name." I stated one day as I was showing him how to check the oil.

"She?"

"Yea, don't most guys call their cars 'she'?" I smiled.

"True, but why does it, I mean_ she_, need a name?"

"Well, when you name something it becomes more special, like its not just some random car that you can find if you go down any street. It also shows possession, like this car belongs to us and no one else." As an afterthought, I wondered what he thought when I said it belonged to _us._

"Well, why don't you name her?" He smiled as he took the dipstick from me, cleaning it with an already dirty rag. "I mean you and you're dad bought the thing."

"I want you to name it." I finally demanded, slamming the hood down. "I named my car and Daddy named his too. I want to see what you come up with."

He leaned over across from me and folded his elbows underneath his chin, deep in thought. I copied his action and tried to keep the mischievous smirk of my face.

He looked away from me as he whispered. "What about Angie?"

I smiled, "That sounds like a great name. Where'd you get it from?"

"It was my mom's name." He didn't look at me as he shoved off the hood and turned his back to me.

"I'm sorry." Was all I could say. I couldn't avoid it any more, I had to ask. "How long has it been?"

"Nine years."

"How did she…?" I couldn't finish, it was like if I said the words out loud then she really would be gone.

He didn't say anything.

"You know, it helps to talk about it." I walked over to his side of the car to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Me and Vera do it all the time. It helps us get over it and brings us closer together as friends."

He paused again but it was shorter than the first one.

"There'd been… complications… when my sister was born." He finally sighed. "Alice made it, but mom died a few minutes after she held her and gave her a name."

For the first time since I'd met him, a single tear ran from the corner of his eye and down his baby smooth cheekbone.

"I'm so sorry." I repeated, not knowing what else to say.

I had finally struck up enough courage to ask him, now that he knew my story it was only fair to ask him about his.

He sighed when I didn't say anything else. "Alice doesn't remember anything about her, so she doesn't miss her as much as the rest of us do. Edward was six, so he remembers something's about her but he'll never know her like I did. That's how come they get into fights all the time. He thinks it's her fault that Mom died."

"How can he think that?" I nearly yelled. "Alice was just a baby! She didn't have any control over that!"

"Do you remember how your mother used to sing to you at night?" He questioned me quietly. "If you close your eyes, can you picture her? Can you hear her laugh at something you either said or did?" I smiled and nodded. "You're brother's would have been eight and one when your mother died? They don't have that. They were only children when she died. Alice is angry that we have that and she doesn't. It makes her angry when Edward accuses her of killing our mom. Then they get into screaming matches and I have to send them to there rooms. Edward won't speak to me for a week because I have to go into Alice's room and comfort her. He feels like I'm taking her side and she thinks the same if I go to check on him." He pounded his fists on the hood. "No matter what I do I can't please anyone!"

I was in tears by the end of it. To think all this stuff had been kept inside of him for so long and he had no way of communicating it. I was going to make sure that all this hurt and regret was dealt with today. For the first time since I met him, I reached over to hug him and he collapsed into my arms, his tears were bleeding onto my shirt.

"I'm so sorry Emmett." I cried into his hair, stroking it with my free hand.

"It's ok." He half hugged me a little. "You're right, it does help to talk about it."

I decided to drop it, though it felt like we had barely scratched the surface. He would tell me more when he was ready to. We worked on the car in silence.

It was a few minutes later before he started speaking again.

"So are you ever going to tell me about you're family's relationship to the sheriff?" he asked bluntly.

It took me off guard, I wasn't expecting him to remember, and I had hoped he wouldn't.

"That's a can of worms that I'm not ready to bait on the hook yet." I tried to focus on my work, hoping he would just drop it.

"I want to know why you can't get Royce nailed to the wall for what he did to you." He grabbed my hand to stop me from turning the wrench again. I gasped in surprise, it was the first time that he had ever done that, it hurt but it was only because of where my wrist hadn't healed from the last time someone touched my hand. I dropped the wrench. It clanged to the concrete floor with an unmusical sound.

I jerked away from him as I scrambled away from him. I knew it was wrong to trust him! How had I allowed myself to trust him? He had helped me stitch my heart back together just to rip it to pieces again! He was just like them, he wanted to hurt me. The only man a girl can trust is her Daddy, and mine was on lunch break with Royce, along with everyone else….

His face drained of his pent up aggression as he processed my reaction. "Oh crap. I'm sorry Rose. I didn't mean to snap on you like that." He let out a frustrated sigh as he rubbed his face with both hands. "It just makes me so angry that I can't do anything to that little–"

"Stop!" I yelled, cutting him off. "Just stop it!" I ran back to the shop hopping that he wouldn't follow me.

"Rose! Come back!" I heard his shout behind me, still at the car.

I didn't stop until I reached my post just in time to see Daddy and Royce come back from lunch.

"Hello beautiful." Royce smiled at me as he lifted my hand to kiss it. I repressed a shudder.

"Alright now King." Daddy interrupted the string of kisses that Royce was placing from my hand up my arm. "Get to work."

"Thank you Daddy." I looked away from Royce as he sulked back into the shop.

Daddy finally processed my mood, at the most inconvenient time. "Are you ok Rose?"

"Of course Daddy, why would you ask such a question?" I was on the offensive.

"I just wondered sweetheart, I didn't mean to pry." He turned to go back into his office.

"I'm sorry Daddy." I sighed as I went over to hug him. "I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"It's alright Rosie." He smiled, using my nickname that was reserved for him and him alone. "I forgive you." He hugged me back before going into his office and closing the door.

The front room was quiet except for the ticking of the clock on the wall. As much as I would hope that Emmett wouldn't come in, he _was_ the janitor after all.

He had apparently saved the office for last. He came in later than usual, he didn't speak to me which hurt a little. I decided to forgive him, I mean he didn't mean to hurt me, he just lost control of his temper. He was frustrated because he didn't understand why I couldn't tell him about the sheriff.

"Emmett?" I asked quietly.

He looked up with a polite mask on his face, trying not to show how hurt he was for hurting me, another jab to the heart.

"I'm really sorry about how I acted earlier." I swallowed before I started again. "I know it's hard for you to comprehend my intentions for keeping things from you but I have good reasons."

"Why are you apologizing?" He came to the front of the desk, directly in front of me. "I'm the one who should be apologizing Rosalie. I hurt you, whether it was directed at you or not." he continued before I could interrupt. "I'm just so angry at that little punk!"

"I know." Then I tried to strike a compromise. "I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours." I hoped he wouldn't be offended by my option.

"Ok, but not here, and not at the diner either."

"Well, work something out." I smiled.

"Oh Rose? would you mind picking up Jasper from his friend's house today? I'm meeting someone for dinner tonight." Daddy stuck his head out the door as Emmett tried to back away from me trying to act like he was busy.

_Perfect timing Daddy. _"Ok. What about Bella?"

"She called and told me that a friend was picking her up, there having a sleep over."

"Who was it?" I was sure I had met all of Bella's friends and none of them were the 'girly-sleepover' types.

"Oh she didn't say, I didn't think to ask. Someone else called me while I was talking to her. I had to hang up."

"Daddy! She's fourteen years old! She doesn't do sleepovers anymore!" I sighed as I pulled out my phone and dialed my sister's number. Daddy just shrugged and shut the door

"What's going on?" Emmett asked as soon as the door shut again.

"In a sec." I told him as the phone started ringing.

"Hello?" She answered. I could hear voices on the other end along with loud music.

"Bella? Where are you?"

"Over at a friends house. I called Daddy, didn't he tell you?"

"Yes, he told me and I believe it about as much as I believe Jasper can walk through walls."

"Come on Rose! Live a little!" She sounded annoyed by our conversation. "You are such a stick in the mud!"

"I could have said the same thing about you yesterday Bella! Tell me where you are, NOW!"

"Why?"

"Because I'm coming to pick you up right now!"

She paused, then I heard the phone disconnect.

"Isabella Marie Hale!" I growled as I dialed her number again, she ignored it this time.

"So what's going on?" Emmett asked again.

"It's my stupid sister! She's gone to some wild party and I have to get her before she does something stupid! The problem is I can't find her."

"I think I might know where she is." He started explaining. "I overheard my brother talking to some of his friends on the phone last night. He was talking about some kind of party he was going to have today."

I grabbed my purse from behind the counter. "Come on, we have a party to crash."

**. . .**

We arrived at his house minutes later to witness his house where a party was going in full swing.

"Oh my…" I heard Emmett gasp at the sight. "EDWARD ANTHONY McCARTY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

He stormed through the people that were leaving. I followed behind him.

When we walked into the house, thankfully I saw no questionable bottles lying around. No one had brought beer, yet. Or either they were hiding it.

I started searching for Bella, asking people if they had seen her, they all pointed me in different directions and soon I was going around in circles. I finally found Emmett again.

"Have you found him yet?"

"Yea. And your sister." He tried not to show me the murder in his eyes, but I could see it struggling to reach the surface. "Cover your ears." He informed me. I did what I was told and was grateful for it when he pulled out a air horn and mashed the lever down.

I saw the kids cringe and cover their ears. I uncovered mine when he put the air horn on the table behind him, and addressed the crowd.

"Unless you live here, I suggest that you leave, quickly." He pointed to the door.

"What are you going to do about it?" a boy in the crowd sneered.

"I'm sure you can come up with an excuse to tell your parents when they come to pick you up from jail."

"You're bluffing!"

"Wanna bet? Stick around and you might be leaving here in a body bag." His hands were curled into tight fists, fingers turning white, and his muscles tensed.

His second threat must have gotten through because everyone ran for the door and in a matter of seconds we were the only people in the messy room.

"Where's Bella?" I asked.

"Upstairs in my sister's room. Don't worry about Alice, she went to work with my aunt."

I charged up the stairs ready to give my sister a beating. Emmett followed behind, probably contemplating the same for his brother, or worse.

But then my plans crumbled when I saw her sitting on a small bed with tears streaming down her face. "Oh, Bella." I said as I went over to sit on the floor beside her.

She joined me on the floor and hugged me. She cried for another minute then spoke.

"I'm sorry Rose!" she sniffled. "It just hurts so much!"

"What hurts?" I was checking her for bruises, cuts, or worse and contemplating murdering Edward if he hurt her.

"My heart! It feels like its breaking into a million pieces!" she started sobbing again. "I just miss her so much!"

_Her?_ "Who are you talking about?"

"Mom! Don't you know what today is?"

I glanced over at the small calendar on Alice's desk. It was the anniversary of the day Mom died.

"Oh Bella, I'm so sorry, I should have known." Bella was so young when Mom died, I didn't realize that it would affect her this strongly.

"Jasper had g-gone to a f-friends house and I was at h-home all alone with no one to t-talk to." She continued to cry. "I couldn't stand it! I went out and grabbed my bike and just started riding. Then I came across this house and figured it would be the distraction I needed. Then I met Edward." She smiled a little. "I think he's going through the same thing or at least understands what it feels like. I swear Rose, we didn't do anything! I would never do anything like that with a guy I first met! I would hope you wouldn't think I'm that stupid! We were just talking in his room when his brother showed up. Please go talk to him! I would hate for something to happen to Edward because of me!"

"Alright come on." I pulled her up and we started walking towards the door to Edward's room. I doubted there would be any talking sense into Emmett when he was this riled up, but I would try. We heard the shouting before we opened the door.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU EDWARD? UNCLE CARLISLE AND AUNT ESME LET US LIVE HERE FOR FREE AND HOW DO YOU REPAY THEM? BY TRASHING THEIR HOUSE?"

"SHUT UP! IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS EMMETT!"

We opened the door to see Emmett grabbing Edward by his shirt collar and raising his fist to punch him.

Bella gasped as I screamed. "Emmett, NO!"

He stopped short of his brother's nose. They both turned to look at us standing at the door, eyes about to pop out of our skulls.

"Just calm down." I said in a hushed tone coming over to his side and touching the arm that held the young boys shirt collar. "He didn't hurt my sister and everything is ok."

I watched as the anger slowly receded from his blue eyes and he released his brother. I hugged him as Edward scrambled farther away from us. With some effort, Emmett worked to put his hands around me.

"It's going to be ok." I told him over and over again.

"I'm sorry." Bella came closer and touched Emmett as well. "It was all my fault, I was sad and Edward offered to cheer me up. Please don't hurt him because of me."

Emmett looked down at my little sister, then over to his little brother. "I'm sorry, Edward. I shouldn't have snapped on you like that. I was angry over something at work and took my frustrations out on you."

"It's ok Emmett. And I apologize for throwing the stupid party." Edward looked at the floor. "I was just… I don't know…"

"It's alright Edward." Then he addressed me. "Do you and Bella mind helping us out? Esme and Alice will be coming home in an hour."

"Sure. It's the least we can do." I replied with a smile. Bella smiled back tentatively at Emmett, still unsure of him.

All four of us went to work in the living room and kitchen. Luckily, we had busted up the party before it got too wild. All we really had to do was pick up cups half full of soda, rearrange the items on the small coffee table, and vacuum the rug. We finished just in time to hear Mrs. Cullen shutting the car door, and Alice's tuneless humming.

"Oh crap! Esme's home!" Edward panicked. "What do we do now?"

"Hang on, I'm thinking."

"Hello boys!" Esme Cullen said as she came through the door. "Whose car is that out front?" she turned to see the four of us standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room. "What's going on here?" She folded her arms across her chest.

Alice peeked around Esme's leg and smiled. "Ooh! You're in trouble…"

"It's nothing Esme." Emmett was the first to explain. "Rosalie here offered to drive me home from work. She's my boss's daughter."

"Yes Mrs. Cullen." I started. "I had to go pick up my sister from a friend's house anyway and we were just getting ready to leave."

"Oh, ok." Esme smiled. To me, she seemed like the kind of person who let go of things easily without much fuss over it, to which I was grateful. "Well Alice and I had to go to the store to get a few things, that's why we were a little late getting home. Will you boys come out and help me?"

We all went outside and Emmett helped me get Bella's bike into my car. Esme didn't ask why it wasn't already in my car and I didn't offer an explanation.

As we drove away I could hear Alice chanting, "Emmett and Edward, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Bella and I laughed all the way home.

**The first five people to review get a free cookie and an exclusive sneak peak at chapter five! :O So get to it!**

**~STP**


	5. Chapter 5

**Woohoo! Another chapter done sooner than I thought! XD Thanks for the reviews Mackenzie L., EsmeAliceRose, and e1311 for your kind reviews! Also thanks to SilverMidnight46, and **e1311 for adding me to their story alerts! I feel so loved! XD ****

****Since this chapter came together faster than I thought, you guys will just find out what happens along with everyone else! :/ Sorry! Maybe next time!****

****Happy reading!  
><strong>**

****~STP ****

**~Chapter 5~**

Bella and I were jamming to _Pocket Full of Sunshine_y Natasha Bedingfield on the radio while we drove to pick up Jasper.

I was the first to bring it up.

"So, you and Edward huh?"

"Yea." She giggled, rare for her.

"We'll I'm glad you found each other. You've been alone for a long time. I feel like I don't spend enough time with you anymore."

"It's ok, you were spending all your time with Royce. Now I can spend all my time with Edward."

I tried not to make a face at the name of Royce, but Bella saw it before I could get rid of it.

"You are still with Royce, right? Or is Emmett in the picture now?" Dang she was quick.

"Sort of… it's complicated."

"Adults say that a lot." She looked out the passenger window so I couldn't see her face. "I wonder if it's really that complicated, or if they just can't see the obvious answer standing right in front of them."

For a kid, she was pretty insightful.

"Bella why can't you just be a normal 14 year old girl?" I sighed.

"When you start acting like a normal 18 year old."

We both started laughing as we pulled into the driveway at Peter's house.

"Jasper, come on, its time to go home." I called out to him.

They were playing in the front yard. I thought I saw Peter trying to hide a magnifying glass by shoving it in the back pocket of his jeans.

"Aw, come on Rose! Just a few more minutes?" Jasper whined.

"Sorry kid but Dad wants us home." He rolled his eyes and said goodbye to Peter. Bella had to get out and push the seat up so he could get into the back.

"What were you two doing out there anyway?" I asked as I drove home.

"Just playing with the ants…."

"Jasper Hale were you burning poor defenseless ants?" Bella yelled at him, turning in her seat to glare at him. "What did they ever do to you?" That's Bella for you, our little activist. I can picture her now chained to a tree with a bulldozer pointed right at her. Now I could see someone right beside her, or at least keeping her from doing something that stupid, I would hope.

"Hey break it up you two." I had to yell before we turned in our driveway, Mrs. Jenkins was gone and Daddy hadn't gotten home yet. There was another car in Daddy's place, and Royce was leaning casually on the driver's side of his car.

"Jasper, help Bella get her bike out of my trunk." I said through tight lips.

"But Rose –"

"Do as you are told. I can handle him." I grabbed my phone, opened my door, got out, and slammed the door before I dared to look at him.

"Hey little munchkins!" He said as he ruffled Jasper's hair.

They walked Bella's bike to the shed in the back, leaving us alone. I sighed before walking towards him. I came to a stop a few feet in front of him.

"Hello beautiful." He said, closing the distance and kissing me with full force on the lips. I tried to push him away but he held be as tight as an anaconda. "What's wrong Baby? You used to like it when I kissed you like that."

"Well a lot has changed Royce." I walked past him and up to my front porch, he followed close behind me.

"It's that jerk McCarty isn't it?" He grabbed me and spun me around to face him, he didn't let go so I couldn't get away from him. "He's ruined everything we had together."

"Don't you dare blame him for this!" I yelled at him. "Our relationship is the same that it's always been. It just took a guy who actually treats me right to show me how much of a jerk _you_ really are!" I slapped him so hard it felt like I broke my fingers across his jaw. He spit before he turned to look at me.

"If you ever smack me like that again, you're gonna regret it." He grabbed my face and he started shaking with rage, he got an inch way from my face. "And McCarty better not find out about this."

Daddy must have come home then because he took a giant step away from me and walked down the porch steps to his car. "I'm sorry Mr. Hale, I just came to see Rose for a little bit. I'll move my car." He turned to smile at me cruelly. "I was just leaving." "Ok, I'll see you tomorrow Royce." Daddy smiled and waved as Royce backed out of our driveway and out of sight.

. . .

"Did your Aunt and Uncle buy it?" I asked Emmett the next day from the front seat of Mr. Newton's red Jeep. I hadn't told him about Royce coming over. He would probably blow a fuse and actually murder Royce.

He chuckled. "Nope." He shoved the rest of his hamburger in his mouth and waited till he was done chewing before he continued. "Our cover was blown when Carlisle found his toothbrush in the toilet."

"Ugh! I feel so horrible!" I laughed and at the same time felt so bad for lying to Esme. "I have to go apologize!"

"It wasn't your fault Rose."

"But I still feel like it was partially my fault. I mean I did lie to your aunt."

"Esme figured it out before Carlisle did. She told us that we were being gentleman for covering for two pretty girls."

I rolled my eyes. "Esme sounds like a nice person. I would love to get to know her better." She almost reminds me of Mom, in a certain motherly way.

"Yea, she and Carlisle are nice people. My siblings and I are fortunate that they put up with us."

"Speaking of your siblings, I think Bella might have a thing for Edward." I confessed, Bella was going to kill me but I knew Emmett wouldn't tell anyone.

"Yea? I think Edward's got a crush on her too." Emmett grinned. "I think they're good for each other, I mean he's gone through almost the same thing as her, and they have a lot in common from what I've heard about her from him."

"Yea, she tells me stuff about him, and I can her scribbling in her diary when she thinks I'm asleep." I smiled.

"Did you get to your brother's friends house ok?"

"Yea."

I checked the clock again, wondering how long our small moment of happiness was going to last before Royce came back.

"Are you ok?" Emmett noticed my uneasiness.

I sighed as I gave up. "It's Royce. He came to my house last night."

"Was your dad at home?" He had asked the one question I was hoping he wouldn't.

"No." I cringed, waiting for the expected furry.

"That little…." He hadn't yelled, which was good and bad. Good because he was working on his anger issues, and trying not to scare me, and bad because I could see that he was planning. "I'm going to murder him!" He jumped out of the jeep and walked outside.

"Emmett, no! That's what he wants! He wants you to start a fight so you can get fired!" I ran after him.

"So what if I get fired. If he's dead he can't hurt you anymore." He was pacing. It was a good thing that he didn't have a car, and Angie wasn't fixed yet, it kept him from going after Royce.

"But _you'll_ hurt me if you get fired! I'll never see you again!" I tried to hold back the tears. "I – I –"

He turned from a murderous grizzly bear into my giant teddy bear as he saw my tears. "I'm sorry Rose, don't cry." He reached over and held me, letting me ruin is shirt.

It was pitiful that I had cried so much in his presence. Ever since Mom died, I kept everything so controlled; never let anyone see how much pain I was actually going through. I had to be strong for Bella, Jasper, and Daddy. But if that's what it took to keep him out of trouble then I would do it.

Royce busted through the garage doors then and saw that Emmett and I were hugging. His face contorted into a scowl.

"What are you doing with my girl trash-boy?" he murmured threateningly. "I thought I told you not to talk to her anymore."

"You're not the boss of me King." Emmett turned his back on me to address Royce fully. "And incase Rosalie hasn't spelled it out to you, she doesn't want to be 'your girl' anymore. So why don't you go back and work on your little gears and motors and leave us alone." His tone matched Royce's.

Royce didn't say anything; he just looked at Emmett's cleaning cart and flipped it over. Soapy mop water spilled out all over the floor along with some cleaning liquid.

"You're going to pay for that!" Emmett growled as he grabbed Royce and shoved him up against the wall.

"Emmett stop!" I ran over and tried to pull Emmett off of Royce.

"What is going on out here?" Daddy came out of his office, a couple of the mechanics were watching through the glass doors of the shop.

No one spoke up, Emmett still had Royce up against the wall and I didn't know what to say.

"Somebody better start explaining!" He barked. "McCarty let him go!"

Emmett released Royce. Royce immediately started acting like Emmett had really hurt him, trying to get him fired probably.

"You have three seconds to start explaining what happened here or you'll both loose your jobs." I knew Emmett would be the first to talk.

"It was my fault sir." He said quietly. "I let my anger get the best of me and I did something stupid."

"What about that?" Daddy gestured to the overturned cart.

"I must have knocked it over when I grabbed King there."

"Daddy I –" I was going to speak up for Emmett, there was no way he was going to take the full blame for this! It's really all my fault anyway, Emmett was just protecting me.

"I don't want to hear it Rosalie." Daddy glared at me.

Emmett shook his head ever so slightly.

"Emmett go pack up your things." Daddy issued the final decree. "King, I expect to see you tomorrow morning, but until then, get out of here."

"But sir I didn't –" Royce started to protest.

"Not another word King! Now both of you get out!"

"Daddy, please!" I begged while I watched Emmett go through the doors and out of site.

"Get in my office now." Daddy ordered me.

"Yes sir." I hung my head.

Daddy waited to speak until he was seated in his swivel chair and I was sitting in one of the two straight-back chairs.

"I want to hear what _really_ happened."

"You didn't believe Emmett?" I asked in disbelief.

"I did until he told me about the cart." Daddy huffed. "He couldn't have done that when he and Royce were on the far side of the room from it. Now tell me what happened."

I had to choose my words carefully. "Well, I had come back from lunch and Emmett was here so I came out to chat with him, I figured everyone else might be on the way back in too. We were just talking and Royce came in and pushed over the cart. You saw the rest for yourself."

Daddy leaned back in his chair, letting out a huge sigh. He didn't know what else to do.

"Daddy? Please don't fire Emmett." I whispered. "He _really_ needs this job. He has a younger brother and sister that he has to take care of and he can't afford to loose it. Isn't there something else you can do?"

"Well," Daddy scratched his head, searching for an answer. "I guess I can put him on probation, since it is his first offense."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you Daddy!" I reached over the desk to kiss his forehead before running through the shop to tell Emmett.

I heard loud banging noises coming from the back room and Emmett's loud voice saying things I should probably never hear.

"Emmett?" I peered through the door.

It looked like a hurricane had blown through and wrecked everything.

"I can't believe it!" Emmett was leaning on the wall with his fists and punched the wall a few times.

"Emmett stop! I talked to Daddy!" I came over to touch his shoulder.

He turned to face me with a shocked expression. "What did he say?"

"He said you're on probation!" I would have never thought I would say that sentence in a happy tone, but it was a better deal in comparison to getting fired.

"Really?" Emmett smiled.

"Yea, it will only be for a few days, though you don't get paid for the days you miss."

"Hey, that's better than being fired!" He hugged me for the second time that day and we both walked back to Daddy's office, hand-in-hand.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry I've been so quiet lately! I've really been slack lately! I'm really, really sorry to all of my dear readers for making you wait so long for an update! If you have dropped this story because of that I'm very sad to hear that. But if you guys are willing to hang in there I promise you will not be disappointed! **

**Ok, on to chapter six! Thanks again for sticking with me!**

**~STP**

**Oh and the part in italics is like a flash back thingy. Just go with it.**

**Chapter 6: Past Mistakes**

I quickly shut the door behind me and looked at Emmett.

"Thanks for saving my job Rose." He thanked me wholeheartedly. "I don't know what I would have told everyone back home if I had gotten fired."

"It's ok, I know." I smiled at him.

We started walking to the bus stop. I couldn't convince Daddy to let me drive him home.

"Oh, there was something we forgot to discuss the other day." Emmett reminded me.

"And what was that?"

"We were going to figure out a place to meet before we became party crashers." He smiled.

"Oh, yea. I had forgotten about that." I smiled sheepishly.

"Well now I have a clear schedule for the next four days." Emmett referred to his probation that was just settled minutes ago.

"Yes, this weekend works for me. What about Saturday?" An idea popped into my head.

"But how will you get out of work?"

"Oh, I have my ways." I grinned

**. . .**

"Oh come on Bella!" I whined. "Have I ever asked you to do anything for me before?"

"Yes." She frowned into the mirror while brushing her hair.

We were both sitting in our room, she was at the dresser and I was sitting on my bed reading this month's issue of _Top Gear_ magazine.

"Bella, I _really_ want to spend Saturday with Emmett." I walked over to the dresser and attempted to make the most pitiful face that I could. "Would you do it if I promised to take you to the Cullen's instead?"

I had asked her to be apart of my little ruse to get out of work on Saturday. Of course, I could have just told Daddy that I was going to do something on Saturday and leave it at that but then Daddy would start asking questions like who was I going with and where were we going. I didn't want Daddy to know about Emmett and me just yet and honestly I had no idea where we were going. Emmett had told me over the phone that it was a surprise. My plan was to tell Daddy that Bella and I were going shopping, and then I was going to drop her off at the library and go meet Emmett.

"You wouldn't let me spend the day at Edward's house alone." She started brushing her hair faster and was blushing, obviously she was thinking about Edward. Ah to be so young and in love, I wish I could be so lucky.

"I would because Emmett informed me earlier that his Aunt and Uncle's trip got cancelled, Alice has the flu."

"So you would send me to a germ infested house so you can frolic around with Emmett?" She could be so stubborn sometimes!

"Bella!" I unleashed the full force of my whiney voice. "Please, please, please!" I got on my knees and shook her shoulder.

"Okay, okay!" She shoved me off. "I'll do it!" She grinned. "I love making you squirm! It's fun to watch."

I looked at her with mock shock written on my face. "I'll show you squirming!" I picked her up and flopped her onto her bed tickling her, sending us both into fits of laughter.

**. . .**

I waited till after dinner to make my request.

"Daddy? I was wondering if I could miss work on Saturday." I asked sweetly. "Bella and I wanted to go shopping."

"But I thought you hated shopping?" Jasper looked at Bella sideways. His face then contorted when Bella stepped on his foot.

"Daddy, Rosalie and I haven't had much time to do some girl bonding in a while. I just thought it would be something nice for us to do." Bella smiled as Daddy pulled the newspaper down just enough to cut his eyes between the three of us. "If you don't think it's a good idea, then we won't go."

I glared at Bella. She was going to wreck everything!

"I guess that's ok." Daddy smiled. "That means I'm going to be short handed at the shop." He turned to Jasper. "How 'bout it son, do you want to go to work with your old man?"

"Sure, whatever Dad." Jasper was still looking at the two of us like aliens had just come down and replaced us with two clones. I gave Bella a wink that only she could see.

**. . .**

"Yea I worked everything out with Daddy, he thinks Bella and I are going shopping." I told Emmett after he picked up the phone. Actually, his little sister answered the phone, then his Aunt, I could hear Alice scream in the background, "EMMETT! Your girlfriends on the line!" It was so adorable.

"That's great!" Emmett sounded really excited, more so than usual. "What about Bella? Where are you going to leave her?"

"Well, originally I was going to drop her off at the library, but I had to increase the stakes to get her to play along. I told her I would drop her off at your house instead. I hope your Aunt and Uncle are ok with that."

"I'm sure they will be. Esme and Carlisle are easy going people."

He was right about Carlisle and Esme.

"We wouldn't mind in the slightest if Bella stayed with us." Esme smiled. "It will give us a chance to get to know her a little better."

"Thank you Mrs. Cullen." Bella smiled back. "I promise I won't be any trouble."

"Please, call me Esme." She replied with a smile.

Just then Emmett and Edward walked downstairs. Emmett smiled when he looked at me, his dimples popped out making him look ten years younger. Edward did look upset about something but when he saw that Bella was there, his face lit up.

"Bella!" he smiled. "I'm so glad to see – I mean what's up?" he was trying to sound cool, it was cute.

"Hey Edward." Bella said nervously as she pushed her hair behind her ears. "I'm fine."

They both walked outside into the back yard. Edward was saying something about the need for speed.

"Oh that boy and his go-cart." Esme laughed.

"Yes, unfortunately we have a dirt track in our back yard where Esme used to keep her flowers." Carlisle sighed with a smile, holding her tight.

"Well, it was worth the sacrifice to see him happy."

Emmett looked at me then. "Well, are you ready to go?"

"Sure, we'll see you later Mr. and Mrs. Cullen."

"Rosalie, please there's no need for formality in this house." Carlisle reminded me.

"Of course, you two have fun." Esme grinned.

"So where are we going?" I asked as we walked down his driveway.

"It's just somewhere I like to go when I want to think." Emmett assured me.

We walked about four blocks until he turned off into a wooded area.

"Well, this is certainly out in the middle of nowhere." I wondered aloud.

"That's what I like about it, no one comes to this part of the area anymore. It's supposedly haunted." He flashed me a grin.

I rolled my eyes and continued to follow him through the underbrush. We finally came to a break in the trees where I could see a little playground that had been out in the elements for a long time, it certainly was creepy enough for people to start rumors that it was haunted but I knew if Emmett wasn't scared then I shouldn't be. My stomach wasn't buying it.

"Is this where they filmed some haunted movie?" I laughed nervously. I joined him on the small park bench (that was almost the only thing that wasn't covered in rust). This was the first time I actually saw him relax, like he didn't have a care in the world. He seemed more like the young boy right now than I had ever seen him. He smiled fleetingly at some old forgotten memory.

"I used to come here all the time with Alice." He watched the swings were swaying in the slight breeze. I could only imagine a younger version of him pushing a smaller Alice in the swing, both of them laughing and smiling at one another. "It was so much simpler back then."

"I thought you guys just moved here." I was sure that's what he told me earlier.

"Yea, we just moved here. We used to live in Tennessee with my mom and dad. Esme is my dad's sister. We used to come here on vacation when we were little. Edward even came with us for a while, but he stopped coming with us. He said that going to the park was for babies." Emmett rolled his eyes. Then he was quiet, and I knew there was a big elephant in the room that he seemed to know all about and something that I was only beginning to understand.

"How did your mother die?" I started out quietly, hoping that he wouldn't hear me, like the true chicken I am.

"She died right after she named Alice." He stated bluntly. "There were… complications."

He sighed when I didn't say anything else. "Alice doesn't remember anything about her, so she doesn't miss her as much as the rest of us do. Edward was six, so he remembers something's about her but he'll never know her like I did. That's how come they get into fights all the time. He thinks it's her fault that Mom died."

"How can he think that?" I nearly yelled. "Alice was just a baby! She didn't have any control over that!"

My outburst startled a flock of crows nearby. He waited until the flock was far away before he continued.

"Do you remember how your mother used to sing to you at night?" He questioned me quietly. "If you close your eyes, can you picture her? Can you hear her laugh at something you either said or did?" I smiled and nodded. "Your brother's would have been eight and one when your mother died? They don't have that. They were only children when she died. Alice is angry that we have that and she doesn't. It makes her angry when Edward accuses her of killing our mom. Then they get into screaming matches and I have to send them to their rooms. Edward won't speak to me for a week because I have to go into Alice's room and comfort her. He feels like I'm taking her side and she things the same of him." He pounded his fists on the wrought iron. "No matter what I do I can't please anyone!"

I was in tears by the end of it. To think all this stuff had been kept inside of him for so long and he had no way of communicating it. I was going to make sure that all this hurt and regret was dealt with today. For the first time since I met him, I reached over to hug him and he collapsed into my arms, his tears were bleeding onto my shirt.

"I'm so sorry Emmett." I cried into his hair, stroking it with my free hand.

We sat that way for a while until his crying turned into sighs and him trying to catch his breath.

"After mom died, I couldn't stand to be in that house. It held way too many dark memories. So I did what every snot nosed teenager would do. I started hanging around with the wrong crowed and the next think you knew I was in the middle of a gang war that no one knew how it started." His tone of voice quickly became bleak. "I saw one of my best friends shot at close range, it wasn't pretty. That night when I came home, I saw some people that Edward was hanging around with. It was some of the younger members of our rival gang. I knew I wasn't setting a good example for my little brother. After that, I decided to try and quit the gang. Of course," he said as he rolled up his left sleeve, "they didn't let me leave without a parting gift."

There was a tattoo that I hadn't noticed before. I couldn't make out what it was because there was a long raised scar across it. I looked at him, wanting to ask questions, but I was afraid to.

"Let's just say that they weren't all too thrilled about me leaving." He smirked as he rolled the sleeve back down. He sighed as he put his arm back around me and held me close. "But that wouldn't be the last time I would tangle with them."

"It was late one night about seven weeks after I left, we had already put Alice to bed, Edward was in the kitchen doing something on the computer, and Dad and I were sitting on the couch watching the news. I don't know why he watched it. All he ever did was cry over it."

"There was a knock on the door that Dad shouldn't have answered. He was met with a gun held to his face. I bolted upright when I heard the familiar sound of one of my former gang associates.

_He sneered when he saw me running to the door. "Well if it isn't my old friend McCarty!" he sneered at me. _

"_Shay this isn't about my dad, leave him out of this." I growled as he pushed the gun further into my dad's face._

"_Step back Pops, I'm a guest." Shay jeered as he made his way further into the room. "Nice place McCarty." He examined the pictures on the mantle. "Whoa! Vavoom, vavoom! Look at her, now I know why you didn't want us hanging around here! Who's this, your older sister or something?"_

_He was looking at the picture of my mom from her high school graduation. _

"_Young man, please put that down!" Dad was holding his hands up defensively._

"_Slow down Pops!" Shay pointed the gun back at Dad. "Don't make me do something that I'll regret later." _

"_Like you have any regrets!" I growled as I ran to tackle him. _

"It all happened in a blur, yet everything was crystal clear." He came out of his revelry. "As I was running towards Shay, he was turning to shoot me, and my dad was running towards me."

He stopped then and pulled something out of his back pocket. It was an old newspaper clipping. It was an obituary from two years ago. The title read: "Carl McCarty: Loving father, devoted husband." The man pictured below the title had a kind and loving face, someone who died way before his prime.

"I'm so sorry." I said again as I handed the paper back to him.

"Sometimes I come here to talk to him." He laughed sadly. "That must sound really stupid."

"No I don't think it sounds stupid at all." I turned his face towards mine. "I talk to my mom all the time. I just don't do it in a creepy playground like you do." I laughed.

"Yea, it does make me a little crazy doesn't it?"

"All of us are crazy. It's just to the degree of which that makes us different." I grinned.

We both laughed as we watched the afternoon sun rested on top of the trees.

**Well how did you guys like it? I hope it was worth waiting for! This chapter didn't go like I planed it, I was still going to talk about Emmett's past, I just wrote it differently than I originally planed it. So I hope you guys enjoyed it. Right now I'm working on chapter seven. Hopefully I wont take as long as I did on this chapter! **

**See you guys soon! :) ~STP**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry guys! I have neglected you guys! And I have come back with a shorter chapter but you wont have to wait as long for the next one! I promise! ~STP**

~Chapter 7~

"So what about you?" Emmett asked casually as he draped his arm over my shoulders. "I mean you've heard my story so it's only fair that you tell me yours."

I sighed to buy me some time. I just didn't want to relive the past anymore.

He laughed. "Oh come on! It can't be as bad as mine."

"It's close." I muttered to myself. "Ok, well it was about a year after Jasper was born, and my mom had taken on an extra job to support Daddy when he lost his job at the factory. She baby-sat and cleaned houses. That's about the same time that Daddy bought the shop. He was getting stir-crazy in the house with all of us kids." I laughed a little. "And then one day, Mom was coming home from the Joneses house, when –" I couldn't go on, I could feel the tears coming already. And once I got started I knew there would be no stopping it.

Emmett started rubbing my shoulder consolingly. "It's ok. You don't have to say anymore."

I wiped away a stray tear as I looked up at him.

"I know how you feel. When my parents died, I couldn't talk about them. I felt like if I talked about them like they _were_ gone, then they really would be gone. But when I went to a Greif Share, my councilor told me that the body is mortal, but the memories are immortal. Or loved ones live on after death through our memories of them. As long as we have our memories, then they will never die."

"That's really insightful." I smiled. "I'm so afraid that one day I might wake up and not remember anything about her. Bella writes down everything so she won't forget. Poor Jasper never got to have any memories to remember her by. But he's not resentful of us. I guess little girls need their mothers more than boys do."

"He and Alice would get along well. They are both so free spirited." Emmett laughed. "Wouldn't it be funny if they got together, and then Bella and Edward too? It would be two matches from the same family."

"And what about you?" I tried to make my voice casual as we delved into a deeper subject.

"I'll let you know when I get there." A little breathless, his face was inches from mine.

I could barely think, I couldn't remember the last time someone kissed me, I mean _really_ kissed me. Royce would never kiss me the way Emmett kissed me, I wasn't even sure if we were doing it the right way. Royce was the first boyfriend I had ever had, so naturally he would be the standard that I would use to gage other guys for the rest of my life, the little jerk.

"OUCH!" Emmett pulled away quickly and clutched his mouth.

"Sorry!" I could feel the heat rising in embarrassment.

"You bit me!" He said from behind his hands, sounding almost disbelieving.

"I'm so sorry!" I covered my mouth with my hands to stop my fit of giggles. It was just so hilarious that I hurt such a big tough guy!

"Oh you're going to pay for that!" He laughed as he grabbed me by the waist and started walking towards the Cullen house.

"Emmett! Put me down!" I half screamed, half laughed.

"No way, not until you apologize for attacking me." I could hear the grin in his voice.

"Attacking you? I did apologize!"

I tried to reason with him but he laughed and continued holding me until we were a few houses down from his. Then he sat me down and settled for holding my hand instead.

As soon as we walked in the door, Alice towards Emmett.

"Hey munchkin!" Emmett ruffled her hair. "Where is everyone?"

"They're outside!" she pointed towards the back yard. "Auntie had to go take Unk a clean towel."

"Did he get wet or something?" Emmett laughed.

She shook her head. "No, Bella fell down."

I sighed, only Bella could fall over her own feet. Well at least there was a Doctor in the house.

We walked outside to a scene. Esme had a towel trying to soak up all the blood while Carlisle was examining Bella's right hand. Bella was trying to keep still, while trying not to cry. And Edward kept muttering apologies every time Bella flinched in pain.

"Well, thankfully it's just a shallow scrape here." Carlisle gestured to her hand. "But that knee is another story."

I looked down at Bella's right knee, it had a small hand towel draped over it, it had turned pink from the blood, and Esme was walking towards us with one that was totally drenched in blood.

"What happened?" Emmett asked.

"They had put the go-cart back up and were heading back in the house when Bella missed the first step and tripped." Esme replied sadly.

"Can she bend it?" I asked.

"Well, that's what he's checking now."

We all looked over to see Carlisle removing the towel to reveal Bella's swollen knee. It had grown to about the size of a softball. All I could see from this far away was red and purple, this wasn't good.

Bella held her breath as Carlisle started to swing her leg in and out. She cried out a little and the tears she had been holding back spilled over. She was holding Edward's hand so hard that his fingers were turning blue.

"I think it's just a fracture. But at least nothing's broken." Carlisle sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't have what I need to brace it so it can heal properly. We'll have to go to the hospital for that."

So Carlisle, Esme, Bella and Edward got into Esme's car and I got into mine after saying goodbye to Emmett. He was staying behind to look after Alice. They both looked after us with concern on their faces.

**. . .**

Being here reminded me of how much I hate the hospital. I guess it was because I had been to the hospital for more bad things than good.

It was stuffy and overcrowded in the ER waiting area. I was almost afraid to breathe with everyone coughing and hacking away. Bella was sitting beside me, silent tears streaking down her face. She was in a lot of pain, I could tell. Edward was sitting beside her, still holding her hand and muttering sorry every now and then. Esme was sitting beside Edward reading a book that she had stuffed in her glove box for emergencies like this. Carlisle had gone back into the ER a few minutes ago.

"I'm sorry Bella." Edward mumbled for the hundredth time.

"It's ok Edward." She put her free hand on top of his. "It's not your fault I'm a klutz!" She laughed a little to relieve the tension. I think it made him feel worse.

A girl came around with a tray full of nabs and small cans of soda. We all took one but Esme, who was trying to cut caffeine from her diet. The girl talked to Esme for a while before walking over to the next group of people.

Every time someone came through the doors we expected to see Carlisle, but it was always someone else. About ten minutes later, he finally came out and called Bella's name.

"Sorry, I had to take care of one of my patients." Carlisle apologized as he held the door open for us. "Just go down to the third room on the right."

It didn't take too long for Carlisle to wrap Bella's leg and to get her fitted for an air cast. Lucky for us they had an adjustable one that took minutes to fit it properly.

Carlisle and Edward helped Bella into my car and I said goodbye to Esme.

"Thank you so much for helping us." I said to Carlisle. "I guess it's a good thing to have a doctor around!" We all had a good laugh and I pulled out of the hospital parking lot towards home.

"What are we going to tell Daddy?" Bella whispered as she stared out the window.

"I don't know." I sighed. "I'm working on it." I thought for a little while longer. "I guess we could say you tripped in the parking lot at one of the stores."

"Uh-uh." Bella seemed to be thinking about something else.

I wanted to ask her but I figured she would tell me when she was ready.

"Did you call the police?" Daddy's color was just starting to turn back to normal. He nearly had a heart attack when we walked in the door.

"Daddy it was in a parking lot. We couldn't press charges." I said acting like I knew what I was talking about. I knew if you had a wreck in a parking lot that you couldn't do anything about it.

"Where were you guys?" Daddy still kept pressing me for more information.

"I don't remember Daddy!" I had gotten irritated with his pestering questions. He had already sent Bella up to bed to rest. I was wishing that I had been the one to trip over the stair….

"Well, I guess the good thing is that Bella's alright and that you both got home alright." He went back to his paper.

I decided that he was done with his interrogation and I headed towards the stairs. I pulled out my phone to turn it back on. I did that purposely so that I would get no unwanted calls.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that Royce called here today." Daddy must have seen me check my phone. "He said he tried calling you but you didn't answer."

That was the unwanted call I was avoiding. "Yea? I had to cut my phone off in the hospital. And I just forgot to cut it back on. Did he want something?"

"He asked if you were busy tomorrow and I told him that I wasn't sure. You guys haven't gone out much in a while. I think you should call him back." He said in an authoritative tone.

"When it snows in the Bahamas." I muttered. I wondered if he was really that blind.

I am not saying that my father isn't a good parent; he loves me and my brother and sister more than anyone else in the whole world. But ever since Mom died he has been a different person. He doesn't smile like he used to. There's no spark in his eyes anymore, he stays in his office at work more than he does out on the floor.

I guess he's so happy that I found someone that he wants me to spend more time with Royce because one day he may be gone like mom. It shouldn't make me mad that he wants me to spend time with Royce. But he doesn't know the _real_ Royce like I do.

"Maybe you should tell him about what happened then." Vera suggested.

I called her so that if Daddy walked by the door that he would hear me talking on the phone and assume that it was Royce.

I sighed, I couldn't say too much. Bella didn't know _all_ the details about what happened between me and Royce. "You know why I can't."

"That doesn't excuse his behavior! I would hope that the Sheriff would be concerned with how his son is acting in public with his girlfriend."

"Please just drop it Vera." I was tired of hearing this conversation too. We had the exact conversation more often now than not.

"Well, if you won't talk to me please talk to Emmett about it. He'll know what to do." I guess I made her mad; she had a clipped tone to her voice. I would have to apologize later.

"I know what he would say," I attempted to do a bad impersonation of him. "Let me knock some sense into him like every Southern Gentleman should." I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe that's what needs to happen. That way Royce can get what he deserves and you and Emmett can finally be together out in the open."

"Ok, Vera. I'll talk to him."

She made me promise that I would talk to him during lunch tomorrow.

Bella sat up when I hung up the phone.

"I think you should talk to Esme too."

"Why?" I picked up my copy of _Top Gear_.

"She was telling me about the husband that she had before she married Carlisle. I think you should hear it."

I put down my magazine to look at her. Was the kid psychic? "I guess I can go see her tomorrow. You wanna come with me?"

"No, I think I would make Edward worse than he already is than to go see him like this." She pointed to her leg.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sooo sorry I have been away for so long! I hope someone still reads this story! As I was explaining to a reviewer, my schedule is a little nonexistent right now, so finding time to sit down and write is hard to accomplish! But I am still constantly thinking about this story and how it will turn out, so I am still writing, it just takes me a while! **

**A little note about the _Top __Gear_ magazine that Rosalie is always reading: It's _actually real!_ I had no idea until I started researching it. I just made up the name when I was watching something on TV that was talking about the movie _Top Gun_ so I figured, why not replace Gun with Gear? Charlie Turner is the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, that's who Rosalie is talking about later in the story. If you want to know more you can go take a look here: www . topgear uk / car-news / new-top-gear-magazine-july-issue-out-now-2012-06-20 just take out all the spaces of course! :)**

**Now without further adieu, please enjoy another chapter from Rosebuds at Twilight!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in this fanfiction, Stephanie Meyer does. The story line is all mine! :)**

**Chapter Eight: Interrogations **

Daddy was watching us more closely after Bella's "accident in the parking lot" catastrophe. It was getting harder to sneak around with Emmett.

"Why don't you come with me to lunch today Rose? I'm going to pick Bella up too so we can have a Father Daughter date. What do you think?"

I threw a long glance at the door that went out into the shop.

"Don't worry about upsetting Royce. He said that I could 'borrow' you for the day!" Daddy laughed. He didn't know the half of it.

"Ok, sure why not?" I smiled. I would miss a date with Emmett, but Royce wouldn't dare try anything to me with Daddy around.

Bella was confused as well when Daddy and I drove up to the house.

"What are you guys doing home?" Bella asked as she turned down the TV.

"We're going on a date with Daddy." I replied, trying not to sound sarcastic.

Daddy walked up to Jasper's room to tell him where we were taking his baby sitter. (To which he replied, "Bella is NOT my babysitter!")

Bella looked at me with a look of confusion. I just rolled my eyes and shrugged.

"So Bella how has your summer reading list going?" Dad tried to make small talk on the way to the restaurant.

"It's going good." Bella replied as she looked out the window. "I've finished all of _Pride and Prejudice_ and started _Sense and Sensibilities_ today."

"That's great sweetheart!" Daddy smiled at her reflection in the rearview mirror. "I am so proud of you. Your mother would be too, she also loved to read."

I saw Bella smile a little, she was happy that she had something in common with mom. I remember that she loved to read too. When I was a kid, I wouldn't go to bed without hearing her read me a bedtime story. When we had read all the books that the library had in stock, she would often make up her own, those were the best stories.

I smiled at the memories too, it felt nice to remember her this way, to remember the good times and sweep the bad ones, along with our troubles, under the rug.

"Now if we could just get your sister out of those _Top Gear _magazines." Daddy laughed as he winked at me.

"Hey, that's my type of reading!" I laughed with him. "Bella can keep her Jane Austen's. I'll take Charlie Turner any day!"

We laughed and talked about the 'good 'ole days' the whole rest of the car ride to the restaurant.

"Rosie, how are things between you and Royce?" Daddy asked after the waiter took our drink orders.

"Fine." I put on the best fake smile that I could and hid my face behind the menu.

"You seem to be spending some time with McCarty a lot too these days." He noted more to himself.

"Daddy, he's just a friend. He asked me about the car out back that we bought and I told him we wanted to fix it up. So he offered to help me, and I'm going to give him some driving lessons when we get her running." I tried to construct half-truths so that I wouldn't be caught in a lie later.

"Well I'm glad that you two are spending some time together fixing old Bessie up!"

"Her name is Angie Daddy."

"Oh…."

"…"

"Who's ready to order?" Our overly cheerful waiter came back to check on us.

That's right! I forgot that Daddy and I had named her Bessie when we first bought her.

This was going to be a fun Daddy-daughter date….

We didn't talk much on the way back to the house to drop Bella off. It wasn't until Bella was in the house when I plucked up enough courage to speak to him again.

"Daddy, I'm sorry we renamed the car." I sighed.

"It's ok Rose." He smiled. "I know we haven't had a lot of time to work on her. I'm just glad someone is paying attention to the old girl again."

"Thanks Daddy." I smiled back at him, not really sure if that's what he meant or not.

Since Daddy knew that we were working on Angie, he decided to let me lock up the shop that night, Emmett seemed a little surprised.

"You mean Mr. Hale is letting his eldest daughter stay at a mechanics shop, all alone, with the creepy janitor, after hours?" He laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Well, why wouldn't he? He trusts me, and he trusts you too." I smirked as I locked the front door. "Believe it or not."

"Well, if my daughter was hanging around with the janitor, I wouldn't trust him."

"What if the janitor had a kind face?" I questioned innocently. "Or he protected her from her mean _ex-_boyfriend?"

"Ok, I guess maybe I would."

"You are such a push-over!" I giggled as I kissed him on the cheek.

"Are you ever going to tell him that you and Royce are through?" He looked at me seriously. "Or tell him that Royce is a creep?"

"Well, you can't tell your father that the Sherriff's son is a creep." I sighed, might as well get this over with now. It was going to be a long story, and we had nothing but time.

"Whoa-!" He ran in front of me and stopped me. "What did you say just then? Royce is the Sheriffs son?"

"Yes. Royce King Jr., son of Sheriff Royce King Sr."

"So that's why you wouldn't go to the police. You think they won't believe you?" He let go of me.

I started walking towards Angie. "Yea, I mean if I told you that the spotless record of the sheriff's son wasn't as clean as you thought, would you believe me?"

"Cops take attempted rape cases seriously, no matter who it is." He took out the tool box that we kept in the front seat and took out one of the old creepers that he salvaged from the dump. Emmett spent most of his spare pocket change down at the dump salvaging old car parts for Angie.

"Small towns don't work like the big cities do." I said as I lay down on the creeper. He scooted himself under the car on the ground, such a gentleman. "If I made an accusation like that, it would be all over town in the morning."

"Well maybe that's what should happen." Emmett handed me a wrench, we were fixing the exhaust fan tonight. "Royce deserves to be publicly humiliated. How did you get tangled up with that guy anyway?"

"I don't know." I sighed. "I got with Royce in the first place I suppose because I thought he would protect me from all of the bad guys out there." I laughed. "It serves me right for trusting stereotypes!"

"Yup." He popped his lips on the 'p'. "You threw away a _great_ relationship with the cop's son to hang out with the ruff riff-raff of the streets."

It was a productive hour and a half. We took out the old exhaust fan and replaced it with another salvaged piece. It was the most time that we had spent together uninterrupted since… well, we never really had this much time to ourselves before.

But it couldn't last.

The Sheriff was out, doing his nightly rounds, and guess who was with him.

"Who's out there?" I heard him calling, shining his bright flashlight at us.

"It's alright Sheriff King." I answered. "It's just me, and Emmett McCarty. He works for my father." I came walking towards the police car. Emmett was right behind me. I glanced back at him when I introduced him. He didn't look happy. I cleared my throat to get his attention. _Don't make a scene!_ I mouthed.

"Oh, well good to see you Rosalie." The sheriff cut off his flashlight. I couldn't make him out at first. I was still blinded by the flashlight. "Sorry about the flashlight. Royce told me to drive by here. He saw some suspicious characters roaming around earlier today."

"I bet." I heard Emmett mutter to himself. The sheriff couldn't make out what he said, but he caught his attention

"Royce has told me a lot about you McCarty." The sheriff crossed his arms as he examined him. "What were you two doing out here this late? Shouldn't you be at home Rosalie?"

"Her father gave us permission to stay here after hours to work on an old car Sir." Emmett replied calmly. "I was just trying to help Miss Hale fix it up."

"'Sir'," the sheriff smiled. You know, that smile that says, _maybe I was wrong about you_. "Well, you two have a nice night. Don't stay out too late Rosalie, or I'll be calling your father."

"Yes, sir!" I smiled as I saluted him. "We were just about to leave when you two showed up.

The sheriff got back in his cruiser and drove away, with Royce never getting out of the car.

"I wish the little worm had gotten out!" Emmett smiled with delight. "I would have loved to see that awkward look on his face!"

I laughed. "Sheriff King seemed to like you." I noted as we got into my car.

"Yea, he did didn't he?"

We had idle chatter as we drove through the sleepy streets to Carlisle and Esme's house.

"Hey, I forgot to ask." Emmett said as I pulled into his driveway. Esme and Alice were waving at me from the window. "They will kill me if I don't." he laughed as he pointed to them.

"Ok, well ask me so they will spare you." I smiled as I waved back.

"Do you and your family have any plans for the Fourth?" the fourth being the Fourth of July, next Wednesday.

"I don't think so." I replied. "The shop closes that day and we usually sleep in so we can watch the fireworks that night. Why? Do you have something in mind?"

"Well, Esme wants to have a barbeque party. She's already invited the hospital staff, her girlfriends that she plays hand-and-foot with and Alice and Edward have invited some school friends. I was just wondering if you guys would want to come."

"Sure, I would love too." I smiled. "But let me check with Daddy, who knows what we will be doing that day."

"Ok, well I guess I can sleep through the night peacefully now that the threat of execution has passed!" He laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow at work."

"See you." I stared after him as he got out of my car.

_Why not?_ I thought to myself. "Emmett wait!"

He looked back at me, alarmed. Then he saw me rushing towards him and I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him down to my level to give him the most enthusiastic kiss that I have ever given another person in my life.

"I hope you have a good night!" I smiled hugely as I pranced back to my car, yes, I pranced.

I left him standing in the middle of his yard, with the cutest dumbfounded expression on his face, and Alice squirming to try and get Esme's hand from in front of her face.

**Aww! Isn't little Alice so cute? I would love to know how you guys feel about this chapter, I know it's kinda short but I liked where this ended so I didn't want to ruin it buy adding something to it! **

**Hit the read and review button if you think kid Alice is adorable!**

**~STP**


	9. Chapter 9

I hope everyone had a good Fourth of July! If you don't celebrate it, I hope you had a good day! :) Sorry it took me so long to update this! I was busy with my family coming in for the fourth and then we are busy remodeling our house so it's been crazy around here! :/

Anyways, let's continue with the story! In this chapter we begin to see the struggles of the Hale family. I switched POV's just to keep things interesting so watch out for that!

Disclaimer: I don't own the twilight saga or it's characters. I am responsible for the basic plot and story line!

Chapter Nine

We all piled into the car to drive over to the Cullen's house, Jasper was in a grouchy mood because he wanted to stay at home.

"Why do I have to go with you guys? I don't even know these people!" He whined from the back seat. Bella just rolled her eyes she couldn't hide the smile on her face.

She was probably the most excited to be going back to the Cullen's. She hadn't gone to see Edward since the incident. She had finally gotten her cast off and was excited to go spend the whole night with Edward. Of course, Edward had missed Bella terribly. Every time I went over there, he would always ask about her.

Daddy hadn't asked about Royce all that much in the last few days. Though it seemed he wanted to bring it up, he would look like he was going to say something, and then he would shake his head and go back to his paper. I'm not going to lie; I didn't want to bring it up either. It was something that we vowed not to talk about, especially in front of Bella and Jasper.

Esme met us at the door. "Nice to see you again Rosalie, Bella, and who are these fine young gentlemen?" She smiled as she hugged Bella and me.

My father just laughed. "My name is Robert Hale and this is my son Jasper. It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Cullen."

"Oh please, call me Esme!" She smiled as she shook Daddy's hand.

I saw Alice peaking from behind Esme, she was staring at Jasper.

"Hey Alice!" I smiled, "How are you?"

She smiled as she jumped in my arms. She put her face into my hair and whispered. "Who is that boy?"

"That is my brother Jasper."

"I like him!" She giggled.

Esme invited us in and we all dispersed into the crowd. Bella wandered around searching for Edward. Jasper was being dragged around by Alice; he seemed to enjoy it though. Esme was leading Daddy through the crowd, introducing him to everyone, as 'Rosalie's father' of course. I scanned the crowd for Emmett. I frowned; he didn't seem to be anywhere.

I finally found him tinkering with Edward's go-cart.

"Hey there!" I smiled as I put my hands over his eyes. "Did you know there was a party going on in your house?"

"Really?" I sounded sarcastically shocked. "I hadn't noticed." We both started laughing.

"What are you doing to Edward's go-cart?"

"Well, I was going to surprise you." He had that 'man I'm busted' look on his face. "I've been practicing, for when we get to work on Angie again."

"That's sweet." I smiled. "I'm glad to see you are practicing!"

We continued to work on the go-cart, talking about this and that, and finally we came to that sensitive subject.

"I know that Royce is under the protection of his sheriff of a father. But you could still tell your father about it. I bet he wouldn't be too happy with his star employee then."

I sighed, "Can we not talk about this?" I looked down at the dirt, kicking the toe of my boot into it, digging deeper and deeper into the ground.

"Why not? I want to know once and for all why you can't tell anyone about it." He put his hands on my shoulder and spun me to face him.

"I promise I'll tell you the whole story when we are alone." I was just on the verge of tears. "Please, don't make me talk about it here! There are too many people around."

"Ok Rose." He grabbed me in a gentle hug. "Don't cry. I don't want you to cry anymore."

"Thanks Emmett." I sniffed.

"McCarty!" I heard my father yell. "That's enough of that! You want me to fire you on your vacation?" And then he started laughing, as well as everyone else.

"Daddy…." I hissed under my breath as I turned bright pink with embarrassment.

…

Esme POV

I laughed at Roberts joke with my adopted son. Emmett hid his embarrassment well but not good enough for me not to see through his ruse. He always ran his fingers through his curly hair and smiled enough for the dimples in his cheek to peak out. Just like my sister Angie used to do. Oh how I missed those smiles, it's nice to see that my nephew inherited them from her. It's like I get to have a piece of her with me forever.

"Now Robert, you shouldn't make fun of the children that way." I chided him gently.

"Come now Esme, how else are we adults supposed to have fun?" he chuckled.

"I thought I heard you Esme." Carlisle came up to us and gave me a short kiss on my cheek.

"Hello Dear, this is Rosalie's father –"

"Robert Hale?" Carlisle guessed. "I think everyone in the neighborhood knows your name now thanks to my wife."

I knew he was teasing me intentionally. He knows I always go overboard introducing people when they are new. I want everyone who walks through my door to feel welcome and at home.

"It was very kind of you and Esme to open your home up to my family and me. It's been so long since we had time together as a family, except for dinners of course!" Robert laughed. His laughter had a tint of sadness to it.

"Of course, we are happy to have you." Carlisle shook Robert's hand. "You are welcome anytime."

"Rosalie told me about your wife." I put a comforting hand on Robert's shoulder. "I lost my own parents in a similar accident."

"It has been hard on us these past eight years." Robert ran his hand over his head. It was like the years of sadness and turmoil were taking it's tole on him, both physically and mentally. "It's been especially hard on Rosie. She feels like she's had to grow up and raise Bella and Jasper in her mother's absence. She never did have much of a childhood, at least not the one I had hoped for her anyway."

He looked back at Emmett and Rosalie, they had gone back to tuning up Edwards go-cart.

"That's why I'm glad that she's found good friends like your Emmett. It's been a long time since I've seen a genuine smile on her face." He replied. His brow was furrowed like he was thinking about something he couldn't quite understand.

"Well, we are certainly glad that Emmett has found Rosalie." I chimed in. "Emmett also lost his mother during the birth of her last child, my niece Alice. Ever since then, Emmett has felt the need to protect his younger siblings, as well as take care of them. He has had a void in his life for so long, now Rosalie is filling his life with happiness again."

"I'm glad to hear that." Robert smiled. And it seemed like to me it was _his_ first genuine smile in a long time.

…

Rosalie POV

The clouds were lazily drifting by on this muggy July afternoon. One of those short summer rain storms came through and forced us all inside the Cullen's spacious home. 'Though it wasn't as crowded as _that_ party…' Emmett muttered. The rain had stopped almost as soon as it started.

Emmett, Alice, Jasper, and I were sitting on a blanket that Emmett pulled out of the linen closet and we were identifying pictures in the clouds.

"That one looks like a rabbit!" Alice shouted out pointing to the sky.

"Oooh! That one looks like a jet plane!" Jasper pointed.

"Jazzy, that is a jet plane." I pointed out to him.

We all giggled as Jasper muttered under his breath.

It was so nice to just sit like this, without a care in the world. I almost hated to see it end, but just like all good things, every beginning has an end. But the end is simply another beginning. Two days from now, life would return to normal and fear and indecision will come back, mostly in the form of Royce harassing me. But I couldn't quit my job at the shop. Daddy needed me there, more than Emmett, more than Royce, more than anyone.

But for now I guess I could gain back some of the childhood I missed out on imagining pictures in the clouds and enjoying one more day of freedom thanks to the American soldiers.

The next day passed slowly. It was too hot, and too stormy to leave the house. It was a good day of rest. But it was too good to last.

"Hey Rose?" His shrill voice broke through my peaceful morning. "Why haven't you been returning my calls?"

"I'm sorry Royce." I tried to utilize the calm that was leftover from my break to speak to him in a civil tone. "I was with some friends at a party on the fourth, and I slept in yesterday. Are you done interrogating me? Or did you not get enough when you drove by here with the deputy?"

A few of the other mechanics coming in for the day whistled at my low blow. Maybe Emmett's confidence was rubbing off on me.

He waited until they had gone in the back to make a response. "You'd better watch it." He leaned over the table.

Well, there went that confidence. I took a step away from him.

"You owe me remember?" He reminded me.

With that, he walked through the doors to the garage leaving me shuddering at the many implications of those four words.

The next chapter will be a flashback/explanation so get ready for it!

~STP


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: This starts of in a flashback, I didn't want to confuse anyone! There are two separate flashbacks, The first one starts at the beginning and ends before the first set of /, between the first / and second / is another flashback/summary. Then after the second / it picks back up at the present.**

**Confused yet? :) Hopefully it will make sense when you start reading! **

**Disclaimer: I only have rights to the story line and plot! The characters belong to Mrs. Stephanie Meyer! **

**Chapter Ten**

It had been four months since mom died. I was handling it better than Jasper and Bella. When Bella wasn't at school, she stayed locked in our room, and poor Jasper was only about a year old, he just didn't understand that when he asked us about "Mommy?" that she wasn't coming home.

Well, I shouldn't say that I was handling it better than them. I was just as upset as they were. But someone had to try and fill Mom's shoes. Bella was about to turn nine, she couldn't take care of Jasper. She was still a child too, and Daddy was busy all day trying to get the shop ready for its grand opening.

I was the only one who could take care of all three of them. I'll admit it, I was scared to death. I thought no one could replace my mom, and here I was, a fourteen year old girl, trying to make sure everyone else was happy and taken care of when I was miserable and had no one to care for me.

One night, Daddy asked me to come downstairs when I had finished tucking in Jasper and Bella.

"What is it Daddy?" I found him sitting on the couch, rubbing his eyes and stretching, like he had been carrying around a heavy burden all day and had just taken it off. I could tell that these past few months had been as rough on him as it had been for us kids.

"I need to tell you something, and you must promise me that you won't ever tell this to Jasper or Bella." He looked at me seriously.

"I promise." I said, not sure what exactly I was agreeing to.

"I have been keeping a secret from you all, something that I thought I could handle without you knowing. But it seems like I can't solve this problem all by myself."

"What is it Daddy?" I was afraid of his answer.

"That night when Sheriff King came to tell me that your mother…" He took a pause, the shock had worn off a few days after the accident and instead of being bitter about it he chose to lock up all his feelings and kept a fake smile up for show. "Well, a few days after that, the Sheriff came back while you three were at school…."

/

The doorbell had rang; interrupting Daddy crying over mom's wedding photos.

"Sheriff King?" Daddy answered the door; he hurriedly tried to wipe away his tears. "What a pleasant surprise. Please come in!"

"Actually Mr. Hale, this isn't a social call." The sheriff seemed uncomfortable for a few minutes. "I'm here to tell you that the bank is going to foreclose on your house."

"What?" Daddy was dumbfounded. "They can't do that? I told Sue-Ellen that I would give her this month's payment next month! I mean, things just got started with the shop, and Nora being gone…."

"I know Mr. Hale. I came here at the request of Sue-Ellen." Sheriff King had handed Daddy a check that would have covered that month's rent and then some. "We've decided to help you out! Sue said that it was her 'Christian act' for the week." He smiled.

Daddy looked down at the check, overwhelmed by the sum. Then he shook his head and handed Sheriff King his check back. "I can't accept your money Sheriff! I don't accept charity. How can I expect my kids to take responsibility and ownership over their problems if they see me shoving my problems onto someone else?"

"Robert, this is no time to be prideful!" The sheriff had finally dropped his 'nice guy' attitude. "Your kids love you! They wouldn't think any less of you because you took money from someone! Sue-Ellen and I want to help you. If you won't accept charity, then let's think of this as a lone. We will lone you this money, so you can pay your house payment, and then you can pay us back when your mechanics shop starts paying off."

"I –"

"Just take the money you stubborn old goat!" Sheriff King laughed.

Daddy laughed with him. "Alright, I'll accept it, but starting on Monday morning you are coming down to the shop to work out a payment schedule!"

"Ok." Sheriff King turned to leave. "Oh, speaking of the shop, I was wondering if you could help me out."

/

Sheriff King only had one request, that Daddy would hire Royce to learn how to be a mechanic.

He said it would teach his son 'all about responsibility' and 'he hangs around with those rowdy boys from school too much. They are a bad influence on him.'

So Daddy was now indebted to the King family, and they did work out a payment schedule.

I had still been at home, oblivious to all of this, taking care of Bella and Jasper. That night, Daddy told me all about this deal. I was shocked. Why would he think we would do such a thing? I told him that it was very brave to accept help when you are too stubborn to ask for it.

"Thank you Rosalie." He said as he hugged me tightly. "I am so sorry that I have dropped Bella and Jasper on top of you. I never wanted you to have to raise them."

"It's ok Daddy, I don't mind." It really wasn't that bad, Bella stayed in our room most of the day and Jasper was a good baby. At that point, he had stopped asking for mom, I don't know if he understood then or not. Instead, he asked for me.

"Erm…" Daddy seemed to struggle with the words. "I am sorry, but can I ask you another favor?"

"Sure Daddy, you can ask me anything."

"Well, you are fourteen now and I think you can handle the responsibility." He seemed to be trying to convince himself that I was prepared for what he would say next. "Rose, I need you to come help me at the shop."

It was unexpected, but I had always wanted to go to work with Daddy when he would go to the shop. I had always been fascinated by cars.

"Of course Daddy!" I hugged him.

"Now, I won't be able to pay you anything because you are still underage, but I can't afford to hire someone else."

"Ok." It really didn't bother me, I knew now that we were going through a rough spot and cash was tight. "But what about Bella and Jasper? I can't just leave them to fend for themselves."

"I have asked Mrs. Jenkins that lives across the street to come and baby-sit until you come home and she kindly agreed.

That next week, I went to work as Daddy's receptionist. It took me a few years to actually get on the payroll, and even then it was only minimum wage. But I didn't have need for much money. Daddy always made sure that I had gas in my car and if I needed anything else, Royce would just whip out his credit card.

I met him on my first day of work. He was nice to me when the other mechanics just ignored me. They were there for a paycheck that's all, nothing more.

Royce came in the next day with a single rose and told me that he loved me.

Of course, I reacted the way any other fourteen year old girl would act. I became infatuated with him, he was two years older than me, but that didn't matter, he said that he loved me and I believed him.

Looking back on it now, I guess it should have raised my suspicions that everything about our relationship was rushed. The next night he took me out to a fancy restaurant in his fancy new car that his parents had bought him for his 16th birthday, and he ordered the most expensive thing on the menu. If you haven't figured out by now, Royce is loaded.

His mom is the Vice President of the biggest bank in town, and not only is his father the sheriff he also served in the military. Anything that Royce wanted, he got and he would push down anyone who would get in his way.

After we started dating seriously, he would hover over me during classes and wouldn't let anyone come near me. I finally had to put my foot down about him being mean to Vera. We had been friends long before he and I started dating.

He usually never let his temper get the best of him in front of me. But one day another boy was talking to be about our class assignment and Royce didn't like it.

By the time he and his boys were finished with that kid, he was almost unrecognizable. I got mad at Royce. There was no need for him to do that.

Naturally, when the teacher heard the commotion, she came to check it out and found the boy lying in the floor and us standing there. When she demanded to know what happened Royce told her that the boy was messing with me and that he had asked the boy to leave me alone and he wouldn't leave me alone, so he punched him. The teacher asked if it was true, and all the other boys shook their heads and everyone was looking at me.

I was young; I didn't want to get Royce in trouble. If I ratted him out, I was afraid that he would have come after me like he did that boy. So I just nodded and looked at the floor. Well, the teacher didn't question Royce any further, 'he is the Sheriff's son after all, he wouldn't do something like that….'

/

"I had forgotten about that boy." I said as we walked out of the garage and out back to work on Angie again. Everyone else had gone home for the night.

"What ever happened to him?" Emmett asked.

"Well, I think that he was expelled for fighting or something."

"So Royce can get away with practically killing a kid, and he can get off scot free because he's the sheriff's son?"

"Pretty much, I guess I was turning a blind eye to it for all these years. Not wanting to mess up our relationship."

"I wish that we could catch him!" Emmett said with venom. "So people could see the real Royce."

"I wish that too, but I don't think it's ever going to happen."

"Well, someone might be going home in a body bag if it doesn't happen."

Then we heard the ominous slamming of doors.

I looked up to see Royce and his crew pile out of his car. The others were getting ready for a fight, Royce was glaring at Emmett.

"What are you doing with my girl McCarty?" He growled.

Emmett pulled me behind him. "She doesn't want to be your girl anymore Royce, so back off."

"Only because you stole her away from me!" Royce took a step forward and Emmett took a step back making me go backwards too. "You just couldn't stand it that she was with me, so you came in, showed her a good time and romanced her away from me."

"Royce just leave him alone!" I was finally able to find my voice. "I don't love you anymore! Emmett didn't steal me from you. I love him! He is kind to me and is a nice person!"

Royce started laughing uncontrollably, his cronies all joined in making a chorus of half-deranged laughter. "You have no idea do you Rose? You really have no idea who this guy is!"

"I know more about him than you do." I answered.

"I wouldn't count on it." Royce smirked like a cat that had a yellow feather sticking out of its mouth. "Has he told you about Steven yet? Steven Cooper?"

I looked at him with a puzzled look. "Steven? Emmett who is he talking about?"

"I didn't think so." Royce had seemed satisfied with his ace-in-the-hole.

Emmett ignored my question. "I don't want to fight you Royce, so if that's what you came to do then I'm sorry to disappoint!" then he turned around to look at me. "Get inside." He whispered.

I could only shake my head no. He hadn't answered my question, and there was no way I was going to let him get beat up again without having someone in his corner. At least I would be willing to testify against Royce.

"So stubborn." He whispered as he turned around to receive a clock on the jaw that flung him on the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Royce's crew cheered as I called out Emmett's name.

"Oh no you don't!" Royce grabbed my arm before I could check on Emmett. "We wouldn't want your pretty face to get busted up again." He shoved me into the waiting hands of one of his friends.

"Let me go you creep!" I said as I struggled to get away from him.

"No, you and me are going to stay and watch the show." He sneered.

The others were chanting "Get up!" at Emmett. I stopped breathing as I waited on him to stand back up.

He struggled to his knees and rubbed his jaw. "You're really going to wish you hadn't done that!"

Emmett launched himself off the ground and tackled Royce. Once Royce was on the ground, Emmett got on top of him and didn't stop pounding Royce until the sirens blared.

Whoever had me let go quickly and stepped away from me. I didn't dare try and pull Emmett off of Royce. He might hurt me by accident and then blame himself later.

"Alright break it up!" I heard one of the deputy's yell as he pushed through the crowd of on-lookers.

It was almost as if I was reliving that incident eight years later.

I was glad it was a deputy instead of the sheriff, he wouldn't be as biased. Emmett looked up to see him toting a stun gun and then rolled off of Royce. The deputy helped Royce to his feet, well _almost_ unbiased. Emmett had busted him up pretty good, his nose was bleeding, two trails of blood were running down his face, and he had a bunch of bruises that were already showing.

"Would someone like to explain to me what is going on?" the deputy looked at Royce first.

"I was coming over here to tell that maniac over there that he was bothering my girl, and then he just attacked me!" Royce told the deputy. "Isn't that right boys?"

All of the crew shook their heads in agreement.

"What about you?" the deputy looked at Emmett. He had resumed his position in front of me. His knuckles were bleeding and he had a bruise on the left side of his jaw. Other than that, he seemed fine. I hoped Carlisle would be able to fix him up.

"I was just talking to Rosalie. He got threatened I guess and punched me." he pointed to his jaw, "I punched him back."

"Miss Hale?" the deputy asked me, verifying his story.

It was exactly like last time. Everyone was looking at me, Emmett, Royce, the deputy, and Royce's cronies, all of them waiting for my answer. It was like I was getting a second chance to make things right. I gulped, trying to find the words and make them come out of my mouth.

"Yes officer, that's what, happened." I only looked at the deputy when I replied. I didn't want to see Royce and his crew's dissatisfied looks, I didn't even know how Emmett might react to it. I was more concerned with where he was going now.

"Well young man, it looks like I'm going to have to take you in." the deputy let go of Royce and pulled out his handcuffs. "You can call your parents when we get there."

"Those won't be necessary, I'll go quietly." Emmett walked towards the deputy like it was all an old routine. He didn't spare me or Royce a parting glance as he got in the cruiser's back seat. Everyone stared after him, stunned.

"Royce, I suggest you get to the hospital." The deputy said before getting in the front seat of the cruiser and driving off.

"You see Rose?" Royce smiled with bloodstained teeth. "I told you what would happen if you told him. Now he's going to get fired _and_ go to jail, and it's all your fault."

I couldn't keep the tears back, or my anguished cries. He was right; it _was_ my fault, all this happened because of me. I dropped to the ground and buried my face in my hands.

"Aww, don't cry baby." I heard Royce yell as he was being carried to his car. "I'll be back! And I'm coming for you."

And then I was left alone, crying in a deserted parking lot.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N Thank you EsmeAliceRose, Pandamelon, and darkinque for your amazing reviews and thank you for staying with my story even thought I have no schedule for updating regularly! ^_^' I hope I answered any questions that you had! **

**So now we find out the aftermath of the fight (Who else was happy to see Royce get clobbered?) and delve into the dreams of a 22 year old girl! The / marks -are the beginnings of the dream, so hopefully no one got confused the last time I used them, at least no one told me otherwise! **

**I hope you enjoy, and on with the next chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I own the story line and nothing more! :)**

Chapter 11

This could not be happening…

I had thought about all that had transpired that evening in the back seat of Daddy's Ford Escape. There were a few images that stood out; Royce's bloody face, his cronies staring in shock as Royce was being pummeled, Daddy's anger as he showed up a few minutes later to pick me up, but the one that was permanently etched into my mind was the murderous intent that seemed to be embedded in Emmett's eyes as he punched Royce, not only was there anger there, but excitement, and…. happiness?

Yes, Emmett seemed to enjoy hitting Royce, liked hearing the sound of bones breaking under his inhuman strength. It was like he had transformed into this coldhearted monster, not the kind and gentle Emmett that I had come to know. The look in his eyes terrified me. It made me wonder what kind of live he used to live before he came to live with Esme and Carlisle.

"Rosalie Lillian Hale." Daddy addressed me sternly. "Would you mind explaining to me why I got a call from Deputy Sheriff Marks tonight saying that you were involved in a fight?"

"It's nothing Daddy…." I trailed off, not meeting his gaze in the rear view mirror.

"Rose, when two men get carried off, one to the emergency room, and the other to jail, it's a little more than 'nothing'."

I sighed. "Emmett and I had gone to work on the car before I took him home. We are almost finished with her. I thought we could enter her in next week's car show. And before we could get anything done, Royce came up and accused Emmett of stealing me away from him, which is absolutely ridiculous. Then Emmett told me to get inside, so I wouldn't get hurt, and then Royce punched Emmett as he turned back around. After that, Emmett tackled Royce and started punching him. Then deputy Marks showed up and it was all over." I just gave him the short version, no need to include the underlying issues.

"Well did Emmett steal you away?" Daddy asked, trying to piece it together himself.

"No, I…" I sighed again, I couldn't figure out how to word it correctly. "I just don't love Royce anymore. He's not the same person I thought he was." I looked at my reflection in the glass. It had started raining since we left the shop. The sky was shedding the tears that I couldn't. Everything had just gone terribly wrong. I wish none of this had happened! I wish I had never fallen in love with Royce, I wish I had never come to work at the shop, I wish the sheriff hadn't given Daddy any money, and I wish that stupid drunk driver had never killed my mom! A single tear escaped from my eye, Daddy couldn't see it.

"So do you like Emmett now?" Daddy asked.

I didn't answer at first. I did love the more dominant side of Emmett, the happy go lucky unselfish big brother who loved his sister and brother more than anyone else in the world. But this new side, how could I be sure that he wouldn't do that to me one day? I mean, I didn't think Royce was capable of doing what he did, who's to say Emmett wouldn't do the same thing?

"I don't really know right now." I answered truthfully. "Everything is just so confusing. I'll feel better about it when I see him again."

"That won't be possible Rosalie." Daddy didn't look at me in the rear view mirror anymore. His focus was solely on the road. "I don't want you spending time with him anymore."

"What?!" I was outraged and in disbelief at the same time.

"That boy is a bad influence on you. He has caused nothing but trouble since I hired him."

"Emmett is NOT a bad influence on me." My disbelief faded away and was replaced by anger. "He has been nothing but nice to me since he came here. He showed me kindness that Royce never did. His family has been extremely generous to us and has taken us in like we were a part of their family."

"That's true. The rest of that family has treated us well, but Emmett isn't all you think he is."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"I didn't want to tell you because I never thought you two would hit it off as well as you did. The only reason I hired Emmett was because his aunt asked me too."

I sat in shocked silence, waiting for him to continue.

"Esme came into the shop a few months ago on one of your days off. She needed her car inspected. We got to talking and she had mentioned that she was going down to Tennessee to go visit some family, and she told me about her sister and that she had passed away. Her husband was going down with her to work out the adoption papers for her niece and youngest nephew. But her oldest, Emmett, had already aged out of the adoption maximum age requirement. He wanted to stay with his brother and sister, so she arranged for him to come and live with them. However it wasn't for free, they had worked it out that Emmett would pay them rent every month for his room and board. The only problem was that he had no money saved up and he had no job."

"I felt sorry for them." Daddy sighed. "Hearing that their mother passed away made me think of you kids, and it got me to thinking that I should give this kid a break. I would want someone to give you, Bella, and Jasper a chance like that. So, I told her that Emmett could come work for me as a janitor, I couldn't afford to pay him much, but it would be enough to pay for his expenses."

Some things started to come into place, it seemed odd to me that Daddy would have hired Emmett in the first place, before he hired him he was worrying about how everyone was going to get their checks that month. But now that I knew, it made more sense.

"So naturally, I had to ask Sheriff King to pull up his record from Tennessee. It took a while for it to come in, by the time it did, you had already met him and you two were getting along so well, I hated to tell you…." Daddy trailed off.

I didn't want to know what was in Emmett's record, I was afraid of what it might say.

We sat in silence the rest of the way home. We were both contemplating what was said.

As soon as Daddy pulled into the drive way I unlocked the door and walked to the front door. I walked up to my room with a short hello to Jasper and Bella and a thank you to Mrs. Jenkins who came over to babysit on short notice.

Once I was in my room, I broke down into tears and strangled sobs. I ran to the bed and fell face first onto it. I couldn't get myself to calm down long enough to get the tears to stop, but eventually the hysterics changed into quiet sobs and then into short gasps for breath and finally no tears at all.

I was numb. I stared at the wall, seeing nothing. Bella must have come in sometime later, but I didn't notice her. A few times I would just start crying for no reason and then the tears would stop almost as quickly as they started. After what seemed like a long time, I drifted into an uneasy sleep.

/

I was in one of those dreams where you start running and it seems like no matter how far you run, or how fast, that you never seem to get anywhere. I was running towards the outline of a person but I couldn't make out what it was. I continued to run even though it was probably useless.

After what seemed like forever, I got closer to the outline to make out the familiar broad shoulders and characteristically curly hair. I called out to him and he slowly turned to face me. Everything looked the same; the same hair, the same clothes and the same face.

But he wasn't _my_ Emmett. The closer I got to him the more subtle differences became apparent. He had cuts and bruises all over the visible parts of his body. He also seemed to act differently. He seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders and his expression went from a scowl to a very unpleasant grin when he saw me. The same look that Royce had on his face the day he attacked me.

I tried to run away but I seemed to find myself backed into a corner. The familiar sights of the shop filled my vision as Emmett moved closer. I fell on the ground and covered my head, for lack of anything else to do. I closed my eyes, waiting for the beating to begin.

But it never came.

I opened my eyes to see _two_ of Emmett. Wondering if I had finally lost it, I stood to get a better look at both of them. There was a distinct difference between the two of them. One was the same one that I ran away from, but the other Emmett had the same fierce look in his face but he words he said made me know for sure which one he is.

"Stay away from her!" He growled at himself. "You don't belong here anymore, get out of my head!"

Their battle continued to rage on. I noticed that their fighting styles were changing. The bad Emmett was starting to fight more like Royce, and my Emmett was starting to turn more into the darker version of himself. They were reenacting the fight from earlier.

There was no one there to stop me this time, I ran for Emmett, tears in my eyes.

"Emmett please stop!" I cried as I caught his arm in mid swing.

He stopped, released his other self, and turned to face me.

"Please stop!" I whimpered as I threw my hands around his middle. "Please!"

Slowly, I could feel his body calm down and he eventually wrapped his own arms around me.

"Thank you Rose." He whispered. "Thank you for saving me from the darkness." He kissed the top of my head, and then everything went black.

/

I woke up to a tear soaked pillow and a bright day outside.

I had made up my mind, no more tears, no more regrets, and one last lie.

"Daddy, I'm going to Vera's." I said as I grabbed my car keys and ran out the door.

**Another Cliffhanger I know, I know! With the drama like it is, the cliffhangers really add to the effectiveness of the chapter! **

**Anyway, make sure you tell me what you think about this chapter in the reviews! I love hearing from you all and hearing what you think I could improve on! I take every one of your comments into consideration moving ahead with my stories! **

**~STP**


	12. Chapter 12

**If anyone is still reading this, I am not dead! I have just gotten wrapped up in other projects and have been falling behind! I am so happy for anyone who still reads this, I really appreciate it! And a HUGE thank you to sarcastic1515 for encouraging me to finish this! **

**I am planning on wrapping this up soon, maybe two or three more chapters to go! **

**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters described in this fanfiction! Only the story line is mine!**

Chapter 12: Pawn vs. King

I had no idea if they were even at home. I saw movement inside but I couldn't make out who it was inside. There were a few things that I needed to know before I made my final decisions. I needed to talk to two of the Cullen's.

Thankfully, one of them opened the door when I knocked.

"Rosalie, I'm surprised to see you!" Esme smiled. "Please come in."

"Thank you Esme." I smiled as I walked behind her to the living room.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" Like any good hostess should and Esme was no exception.

"No thank you." I smiled. "Where is everyone?"

"Well, Alice is staying over at a friend's house until all of this blows over, Edward is at summer camp and Carlisle had to go down to the jail to post Emmett's bail."

"Oh, ok." Well that was a relief. I could talk to him when he got back.

"I know this a lot for you to process in one day." Esme looked at me sympathetically. "I felt the same way after I left my first husband."

Thankfully, I had remembered what Bella told me. That's just what I wanted to ask her about. "Do you mind me asking what happened?"

"Not at all, I lived in Columbus, Ohio before I came here with Carlisle. I wasn't a very proper young lady, like my parents desired, and got into trouble all the time, and one day, my mischief got me into serious trouble! I had climbed a tree, and fell out of it, breaking my leg. Unfortunately, the doctor wasn't in town so I had to see his assistant instead. Carlisle was shadowing my regular doctor for his doctorates degree. He was so kind to me, unlike everyone else who thought I was weird and socially awkward. After that, I never saw him again. I realized later that he had chosen to stay in Columbus after his shadowing was done."

She smiled at some old memory, probably about the day they met. She sighed; it sounded disheartened, and continued her story.

"It had been so long since I saw him. So much had happened since we last saw each other. After I graduated high school, I noticed that all my friends were getting married, and then I realized that I was the only one who was still single. My parents began to worry that I would be an old maid for the rest of my life. They started setting me up with the unmarried bachelors in town. I was ashamed to admit it, but I was never satisfied with any of the men that they showed me. I only had eyes for Carlisle, but I was too shy to admit it."

Her face turned sour at this point in the story. "After a few years had gone by, my father put his foot down. He insisted that I marry the son of a friend of his, Charles Evenson. I had never met the man, but I had only heard nice things about him from my parents. So I agreed to marry him, to make my parents happy."

"I soon began to realize that Charles had two faces: His public, and his private. And they were as different as night and day." A chill ran up her spine. "He physically abused me, and threatened to kill me if I ever told anyone. So I lived my life in a constant state of fear and lies. I was lying to everyone I knew, telling them that I was such a klutz that I fell down all the time, and fear that Charles would kill me either way."

I was shocked. Though our two lives were different, I could see the similarities, the two faces, the beatings, the lies….

"Charles was accepted into the Army soon after we got married. Those were the happy months of my marriage. I got to the point that I could be in my own house without fear. When he came back, he was worse than he was before he left. He sexually abused me every night and one day I felt strange. So while he was out I ran up to the convenience store to get a pregnancy test. It was positive, I was pregnant."

She crossed her arms over her stomach in a cradling fashion. "I had hoped that by me telling Charles that he was going to be a father would soften him up just a little bit, but it was not to be. He was so angry with me." She shivered, remembering. "He told me that I couldn't have this baby and tried to force me to abort the baby. I slapped him, telling him that this baby was ours and we were going to give it a good home. But then…."

She flinched and couldn't go on. I could connect the dots though. He probably got even angrier at her and beat her some more. Poor Esme, who knew such a care free person, had such a rough life. No one deserves to be treated like that, Esme especially.

So why did I let myself get treated like that with Royce?

"The first time I went to the doctor to confirm that I was pregnant, he found the baby, but no heartbeat. I couldn't believe that Charles had killed our baby, my baby. I was so distraught that I tried killing myself multiple times. I almost succeeded, and would have if it hadn't been for a certain doctor."

She went on to tell me how she had attempted to throw herself off a cliff and was caught by Carlisle before she could jump. Somehow she was able to tell Carlisle everything about how evil Charles was and they ran away together. Though she never officially divorced Charles, she changed her name back to Platt before she married Carlisle.

"I never wanted to think of Charles, his last name was like a leech attached to my name." She told me.

Hearing about Esme's life before I met her gave me the courage I needed to tell Daddy about Royce. I wasn't afraid of him anymore.

"After we had been married for a year, Carlisle and I tried to start a family of our own. But sadly, I was unable to bear him any children. I was so upset that Charles had not only taken away one of my babies, but any future babies that I might have had. So Carlisle and I spoiled our niece and nephews. Angie was the only relative that would even speak to me after Charles and I separated. And even though it is sad that I lost my sister, I gained three children to replace the one that I had lost." She smiled.

Esme was just about to tell me something funny about Emmett when the front door was unlocked. We both turned to see Carlisle walking through the door. We both stood, Esme going for Carlisle and I to the door to see if Emmett was there. To my disappointment, he wasn't there.

"Were you able to get him out?" I heard Esme ask Carlisle.

"Thankfully, yes." I breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought he was right behind me."

"I think I know where he went." I said as I walked out of the house.

I found him sitting on the swings, rocking himself back and forth. He didn't seem to notice me; he was gazing up at the sky.

His hands had been bandaged up and the swelling had gone out of his face where Royce got his lucky punch. At least his physical injuries were healing.

"You shouldn't be here Rose." He didn't look at me; he continued to stare at the clouds. "I know your father probably told you that you weren't allowed to see me again."

"My father doesn't tell me what to do." I huffed, where did he get off talking to me like I was a child? I sat down in the swing beside his, swinging a little higher than he was.

"Oh really?" He looked at me and raised his eyebrows in a skeptical manner. "He thinks you are at Vera's house doesn't he?"

My cheeks burned as he hit the nail on the head. I turned my head and tried to brush it off. "That doesn't matter." We swung in silence for a while, just enjoying the cool breeze. After my cheeks cooled off I finally asked him hesitantly. "So, who is Steven Cooper? What happened to him?"

He let out a long sigh before he answered me. "He was murdered."

The silence that followed was deafening. The wind whistling was the only noise to break the silence between us. I knew Emmett had a dark side, but dark enough to kill someone? I couldn't imagine my sweet and kind Emmett ever killing anyone. This must have been what Daddy was trying to keep from me.

"He was my best friend. We had been together since elementary school, watching out for each other. We were both wild kids and always got into trouble. In high school, we'd gamble in class, and drink all night. Then we got involved in the 'wrong crowd' and things got worse from there."

The whole time he was telling his story, he wouldn't look at me. He looked down at the ground, his curly hair hiding his eyes. There was some expression on his face that he didn't want me to see.

"We were both in the same gang and we still looked out for one another but the stakes were raised. It was knife fights and gun battles that we had to worry about now. It was during one of these brawls that Steven went down. He was shot, trying to protect me."

He stopped for a minute, collecting his composure to go on. I was glad he stopped. I needed a second to take it all in. I just couldn't picture it, Emmett with a knife or a gun in his hand, aiming to kill anyone. I guess it goes to show you that the person you see today could be totally different then they used to be. But it was a relief to know that he wasn't the one to kill his friend.

"I could only look at his cold lifeless eyes and wish that it had been me instead of him. I got so angry that I picked up the gun that someone dropped beside him and started laying bullets into anyone who came in my sights. By that time, the cops showed up and everyone scattered, everyone except me and the dead guys from both sides. I dropped the gun and was forced onto the ground. The last thing I saw was Steven being zipped up in a body bag to be hauled off with the rest of them to places unknown."

"After serving some time, I was able to go and see his grave. I still went down there every month on the day of his death to put some new flowers by his headstone. I always went at dawn to keep away unwanted attention. After Steven died, I stopped everything cold turkey, the drugs, the drinking, the gambling, everything. But I found out real quick that you can't quit a gang that easily. They kept coming back after me, and told me I was betraying them by not staying with them. They would tepee my house and slashed my dad's tires. But I still turned them down, I could handle them messing with me. But then when they started messing with Edward…."

"It was a few days before we moved here. They were trying to get him to join up. He was so close to joining, he was willing to do anything to get his mind off Mom and he had some steam to blow off. I had a few choice words with him and then went after the guys who recruited him. At that time, I didn't know that social services had come by to try and take Alice and Edward away. Thankfully Dad was able to convince the social worker to give him a few more days. I told him that I wouldn't let them take Alice and Edward away. We both knew that they would be shipped off to group homes and would be stuck there until they turned 18. I had already aged out of the system, a legal adult, so I could stay with Dad, yet I was unfit to care for my siblings because of my record."

"I was so happy the day that Esme came to tell us we were moving in with her, I was glad to be moving to some place new, where nobody would know about my past and I could start over."

He sighed and looked at me. There was no more anger, no more happiness, just the sadness left from years and years of a troubled life. "I never wanted you to find out about this, about this part of my past. I'm ashamed of what I used to be."

"But you aren't like that anymore!" I got up and hugged him. "When you love someone, you love every part of them. You take the good with the bad, the ugly with the beautiful."

We sat like that for a few more minutes until I felt the warm moisture from his tears hit my shirt. He grabbed me by the waist and started sobbing. I let him get it all out, it felt like he was letting out all the bottled up sadness that had been stored for too many years. It took another five minutes before he calmed down enough to speak.

"Even though you know all about my dark past, and all that you've been through with me, you still want to stay with me?" he looked up at me with those irresistible, bloodshot, baby blues.

"Emmett, it doesn't matter to me who you used to be, I fell in love with the person you are now. And you saved me from ending up in a situation like Esme's when she left Charles." I smiled at him. "I love you Emmett, no one can change that!"

He smiled down at the ground, then looked up and whispered quietly, "Thanks Mom for sending me a guardian angel."

We sat in the swings for a long time in silence. I was the first one to break it.

"There's another part to my story with Royce. My family owes the King's money." I don't know why I decided to tell him this; I guess I figured if he was going to be completely honest with me that I should do the same for him.

"How much do you owe them?"

"I don't know, last time I checked, about $3,000."

"I had no idea." Emmett replied. "Not only is he a worm but he's a blackmailer too."

"I never realized how much crap I overlooked. Whenever Royce would want to do something that I wasn't interested in he would always say: 'You owe me remember?' I always thought it was for something stupid like getting his best jacket dirty for putting it over a mud puddle for me. Only after daddy told me about the debt that he owed to the sheriff did it make sense. The guilt trip used to be for small things, like going to see a movie with his buddies, but the more time we spent together the tighter his grip became on me. He started to make me blow classes with him so that he and his friends could get drunk or stoned, then later he didn't want me to spend the weekend at my aunts for my great uncle's funeral because he was afraid I would meet someone new up there and decide to leave him."

"So he's an insecure, blackmailing, worm." Emmett summed him up. "How do you catch an insecure, blackmailing, worm?"

I had to laugh; it was so ridiculous that we were even having this conversation anyway. "I don't know. Catch him in his own game?"

"You know, that is a good idea." Emmett muttered. Oh no, I could already see the gears turning in his head.

"You can't be serious Emmett." I tried to kill that crazy look in his eyes. "You are talking about taking down the wealthiest family in town. It's suicide!"

"Rosalie, I've lived through two deaths of people I care about." He turned to me and took my hands in his. "I would rather die than to see you be number three."


	13. Chapter 13

**I feel like I keep apologizing to you guys and I'm so sorry! This is the last official chapter. I do have an epilogue planned so stay tuned for that! **

**I just couldn't figure out a good way to resolve this! It really bugged me for a long time but I think I have ended it quite nicely.**

**Please let me know what you think, I would really appreciate to hear from you in a review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own twilight or its characters, the story line however is mine.**

Chapter 13: Finding My Rainbow On My Terms

"Daddy would kill me if he knew I was here." Rose sighed as she walked back to the Cullen house hand in hand with Emmett. She stopped short when she saw her father leaning against the hood of his truck, looking in their direction. His arms were crossed over his chest and his face was a mask of hurt and sadness.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Emmett put his arm around her.

Rosalie took a long sigh before she looked at him. "As much as I would love you to," She patted him on the chest. "but I think that I should do this on my own."

Though it looked like it would physically hurt him to be separated, he hugged her tightly and walked back to the house.

Robert Hale watched Emmett cross the yard and nodded in his direction.

Emmett stopped before Mr. Hale and looked like he wanted to say something to him, after a few minutes of internal debating, he spoke.

"Mr. Hale, sir. Don't blame Rose for all this. It's not her fault. I was the one who started the fight. I was the one-"

Mr. Hale but his hand up to stop Emmett. "It's ok McCarty, I know."

"You know?"

"I think you should go inside," He looked back at Rosalie. "I would like to speak to my daughter, alone, please."

Emmett looked back at Rosalie she nodded in reassurance and he walked back to the house where Esme was waiting for him. She looked at Rosalie too and gave her a wink.

Rosalie walked over to her father, waiting for the scolding she deserved.

When he didn't speak, she figured that he was waiting for her to say something. "How did you find me?"

"I had a feeling you would come here. I waited a few minutes after you left so that Mrs. Jenkins could come and watch Bella and Jasper."

There was silence between the two, both waiting for the other to make their move. He was the first to speak.

"Esme told me everything. Rosie, I just don't understand why you didn't just tell me." He sighed.

"I don't quite understand it myself." She replied sadly. "I guess I just figured that Royce was your favorite mechanic and the sheriff's son so I thought that no one would believe me."

"Rosalie. You know that you can come to me for anything. I only played nice with Royce because he _was_ the sheriff's son and I thought he was good for you." He chuckled. "Quite frankly, the boy irritates the crap out of me."

They shared a short burst of laughter and then it died down.

"I'm sorry that you thought that you couldn't come to me sweetie." Mr. Hale sobered up. "You know that I will always be there for you."

"Thanks Daddy." She hugged him. "Now we just have to figure out where to go from here."

"Well you have to dump Royce for one thing."

"Daddy, I can't." She sighed. "He's basically blackmailing me into being his girlfriend."

"Blackmail? What is he blackmailing you for?"

"He keeps bringing up the fact that you owe his parent's money, though it has transformed into me owing him over the years."

"That little-" Mr. Hale had to restrain himself from saying something in front of his daughter. "I'm going to fire that little ingrate Monday morning."

"Daddy, that's just going to make things worse."

"Well we have to do something to get him back for hurting you."

"I think I can help with that." They hadn't realized that Emmett had come back out of the house, they saw him and Esme and Carlisle coming towards them. Emmett had a small book in his hands.

"Emmett what are you talking about?" Rosalie thought it was strange that he had that dopey grin on his face that meant that he had a scatterbrained plan.

"Mr. Hale how much money do you still owe the Kings?" Emmett asked.

"I'll have to check, but maybe $3,500."

"Ok, Rosalie, you said that Royce wouldn't let you go because your family owed his money." Emmett turned to her with his eyes bright with excitement.

"Yea." Rosalie couldn't see where he was going with this.

"Well here, problem solved." Emmett pulled out a pen and scribbled into the book, she then figured out that it was a checkbook. He ripped out a check and handed it to her. She realized that it was a blank check made out to her.

"All you have to do is write down how much you owe him."

"Emmett, I can't accept this!" I tried to hand it back to him. But he wouldn't accept it.

"Rosalie it's a gift." He insisted. "And don't give me that 'I'll pay you back' crap."

"Where is this money coming from?"

"My mom had set up three separate trust funds for me, Ed, and Alice. I had to use a little to get us up here from Tennessee and now I'm using it to help you get out of debt."

"But-"

"No, no but's I'll pay it back." Emmett anticipated her question. "That is if I'm still working." He looked at Mr. Hale.

"Consider you rehired McCarty." Mr. Hale grinned.

"Thank you sir."

"Rosalie, please let us help you." Esme pleaded with her. "I don't want you to end up like me."

"Like you?" Rosalie smirked. "You have a loving husband and family."

"Well, that maybe true, but I had to go through a lot of rainstorms to find my rainbow." Carlisle wrapped his arms around her, to emphasize the point.

Rosalie stared down at the small piece of paper. "You know that this will change nothing."

"But this will give you the advantage." Emmett sighed. He was tired of trying to fight with her over every last detail. "Royce won't have a reason to keep you know, you're free!"

"You don't get it Emmett!" She suddenly yelled at them. "Once he want's something he will stop at nothing to get it!" She thought back to that young boy who, with her help, was expelled. "I'll take the money for Daddy's sake, but I can't let you all take the risks for me, I have to deal with Royce alone."

"No, you don't have to." Mr. Hale looked so heartbroken seeing his daughter in so much distress.

"Daddy it's the only way to make it stop. If I give into him now, then maybe he will leave Emmett alone."

"Oh, there's no way that you are going to fight _my_ battles Rosalie." Emmett protested.

"This isn't just about you, you know!" She walked up to him having to stand on her toes to get eye level with him. "I'm in this to."

"So let's get him together."

"You won't let me talk you out of it will you?"

"Nope, you are stuck with me kid."

"All of us." Esme added with a smile.

So a few days later, they set the plan into action.

Rosalie was scared to death, but she kept telling herself: In a few hours, it will all be over. In a few hours, it will all be over. She made it into a chant and sighed as she walked into the office after lunch.

Daddy was in place, in his office, but the story was that he was taking the day off, so the lights were off in the office. When Emmett gave the signal he would call the Sheriff to tell him his squad car was ready. He had brought it in earlier in the week, and the boys just finished it before they left for lunch.

Esme and Carlisle were standing by, for moral and emergency support. Esme was going to bring her car in for a tune up. Carlisle would come by later to pick her up.

Emmett was in the back; ready to bust in if Rosalie's plain went awry. Those were Rosalie's conditions, if they were going to help her it was going to be on her terms.

Rose had her back to the door doing some paperwork. She hadn't heard him enter, so it made her jump when a voice came from behind her.

"Hello beautiful!" His voice was like nails on a chalk board.

"Hello Royce."

"Ouch. The formalness is really killing me Rosie." He spun her around and grabbed her roughly. He leaned in and whispered menacingly. "I told you I would come back for you. You cannot escape me this time, and there is no one who can help you now."

"I'm not afraid of you!" She whispered back, matching his tone with a fierceness of her own. "And I don't need anyone to help me."

Royce grinned. "Oh, there's my little fierce kitten." He shoved her against the wall and started kissing her fiercely. She struggled but he restrained her. The sounds of the mechanics getting out their tools to begin work again made him hesitate. "I'll come back to finish the job, and don't think you can get away from me that easily. Remember, you owe me. Now go clean yourself up, you look like a slut."

He swiftly walked away, back into the garage and left her alone in the office. She walked over to the front door and, with a shaky hand, turned the close sign to open and wiped the blood from her face where Royce had bitten her lip.

Mr. Hale stuck his head out of his office, looking horrified. "Rosie, are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"I have to Daddy, if I don't stand up to Royce now, he'll just move on to the next girl. This ends today. I won't let him hurt anyone else." The determined look on her face said it better than words.

Emmett came in to clean the office. "I heard him joking with the other mechanics that he was going to score big tonight. I'm not going to let it come to that Rose."

"Well that makes me feel loads better." Rosalie remarked sarcastically. "You can't just keep barging in on us Emmett, it didn't work so well the first two times what makes you think that it's gonna happen any different this time?"

"I can't just stand by and let it happen." His face was twisting with anguish.

"If all goes well, it won't." I touched his face. It eased some of the tension. "Please, you have to let me do this my way. No matter what you hear or what happens, you have to stay out of it."

"If this whole thing goes south, I'll put him in an early grave." Emmett growled as he pushed the cart back in the shop.

Esme came in a little while later, all according to plan. I came into the garage to tell McCormack to bring her car in. I caught eyes with Royce and beckoned him to come over. He put down his wrench and followed her to the back of the shop where Emmett's office was.

"Ok, I've thought about it and I've decided to give in." She stated in a whisper.

"Aw come on Rosie, you know it's no fun in it for me if you cave at the drop of a hat." Royce complained. He suddenly grabbed her in a fierce embrace. "You know it's no fun without the thrill of the hunt."

"I'm not playing games with you anymore." She stood her ground, not resisting or trying to get away from him. "I'll give you what you want but you have to do it on my terms."

"And what are your terms?" Royce smiled in an amused way.

"You have to leave Emmett alone."

"I think I can agree to that." He kissed her fiercely.

When he let her breathe again she spoke, "But not right now, we do it later, without any witnesses. With Daddy gone for the day, I'll get to close up shop. You can stay behind and say that you are working on a car. That way, we will have no _interruptions_." She kissed him back that time and she had to fight every repulsed thought in her head to do it.

Her enthusiasm caught him off guard. He was surprised by it, and then started to think that maybe it would be just as rewarding if she wanted it just as much as him.

"Fine, we'll do it after the shop closes for the day." Royce smiled. "But after I make sure McCarty is gone for the day. I want to make sure there _will be_ no interruptions." She repressed a shudder as she walked back to the office.

Esme was sitting in the office waiting room and gave her a sympathetic smile. "You are going to get through this Rose."

"I know."

Royce came in the shop a little later, close to closing time, and noticed Esme sitting there.

"Hello Mrs. Cullen." He smiled and laughed awkwardly. "I thought you had left a while ago."

Esme put down her magazine and smiled politely. "Oh no, Carlisle is coming to pick me up later, he doesn't get off till 5:30."

Royce glanced at the clock nervously. It was 4:45 pm. Then he looked at Rosalie, _no witnesses_, he remembered.

"Don't worry, Esme will be gone in time for our _date_ tonight." Rosalie assured him. That seemed to relax him a little and he walked back into the shop.

"Rose, there's still time to back out." Esme reminded her. "You could leave with me and Carlisle when he gets here."

"I don't think so Esme, where would I go that he couldn't find me?"

She went into the shop and told all the mechanics that they could go home after they finished working today, just to come in and let her know they were leaving; she tried not to look at Royce.

They started trickling into the office to let her know that they were leaving and by 5:20 Esme, Rosalie and Royce were the only ones left. Emmett had 'left' and was waiting outside for Esme and Carlisle to come out.

Once Carlisle got to the shop to pick up Esme, she figured it took about 8 minutes to get from the police station to the shop. She only had to hold Royce off for 8 minutes. No big deal right?

Royce got tired of waiting in the garage so he came out into the office. It was funny to watch him be civil to Esme while trying to restrain his irritation that she was still here.

He breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the headlights of Carlisle's car shining through the windows.

"I'm so sorry I'm late Esme." He said as he came in the door. "I had an emergency call."

"It's alright Carlisle. I was just socializing with Miss Hale here." She picked up her purse and walked over to Carlisle. "It was _so_ nice to meet you Mr. King."

"Nice to meet you to." Royce replied his eyes glued on Rosalie.

If things went according to plan, her daddy should be calling the Sherriff now. _Just 8 minutes Rose._ She breathed through her nose and ran into the shop before Royce could get to her.

"Where are you going?" Royce burst through the doors. Rosalie was nowhere to be seen. "Rosie, where did you go?" The shop was dark. The only light was coming from the security lights outside.

Rosalie was hunkered down behind a car. She noticed a wrench lying under it and reached for it throwing it across the room.

She looked under the car to see Royce's shoes running off in the direction of the wrench.

"What was it you said earlier Royce?" She called out when he was on the other side of the room. "There's no fun in it without the thrill of the chase!" She spotted the Sheriff's police cruiser and scrambled over to it. She opened the door as quietly as she could and crawled into the back seat and slammed the door as hard and as loud as she could. Then she locked the doors.

Royce whipped his head in her direction at the sound of the door. "Rosie, here kitty, kitty, kitty!"

She had lain down in the back seat and covered her head, that way it would look like she was hiding but she wanted him to find her.

She looked down at her watch. "Six more minutes to go Rosalie, you can do this."

"Rosie? I'm getting tired of this little game." Royce started searching all throughout the cars, trying to find her.

"Four minutes to go." She breathed, hoping it would go by faster. She risked a peak out the window to see if she could see where he was but she couldn't see him. Cautiously she sat up in the seat and looked around, where did he go?

"Gotcha!" A chill ran down her spine as she turned to see Royce going for the door handle. Then he realized that it was locked. "Rose? What are you doing?" he started furiously searching his pockets.

"Looking for these?" Rose dangled the keys in front of the window.

"You swiped my dad's keys from me?" He looked outraged. "You little thief! I could have you arrested for stealing. Do you have any idea who I am?"

He looked around and found a tool box that one of the mechanics carelessly left open and scrounged around until he found what he was looking for. He came back to the window and she noticed that he had a large crowbar in his hands. He drew it back almost like a golfer getting ready to swing at a ball and then smashed at the glass as hard as he could go. It made a little crack in the glass.

_Thank God for bullet proof glass._

Royce looked outraged and continued to hit the glass. The crack got a little bigger each time he swung at it. He was yelling the whole time, hopefully Emmett would stay away.

Rosalie looked at her watch again. _Two more minutes and this will all be over!_

Royce's maniac swings finally paid off, the glass shattered into a million pieces. She covered her head and screamed.

"Come here you little-"

Suddenly the garage was filled with fluorescent light.

"What is going on here?" A deep man's voice filled the shop, it was the sheriff's. Rosalie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dad?" Royce asked weakly. Rosalie was sure that he was thinking what this must look like for the sheriff's son to be damaging police property. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same question son." The sheriff's face was turning cherry red. "Would you like to explain to me what you are doing here, with a crowbar in your hand, and my back window smashed?"

"Uhh… Umm… I can explain!" Royce backed away from the car and dropped the crowbar the metallic ringing filled the air.

"You can explain it all to your mother and me when we get home!" The sheriff growled. Royce squealed in pain as his father gripped his arm tightly. Royce was then dragged over to were Mr. Hale was standing, trying to keep a shocked and stern look on his face. "Now apologize to Mr. Hale, now!"

"I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again." Royce scowled.

"Oh I know it won't 'cause you're fired!" Mr. Hale was pleased to get the words out of his mouth."

"Dad?!" Royce turned towards his father in a cglass,.omplaining tone.

"It's what you deserve! And you're going to wish you were working with the punishment your mother and I have for you. Now you get out in that car, now!"

"Yes sir." Royce knew he had been found out and hung his head in shame.

As soon as he was out the door Rosalie got out of the car and ran towards her father.

"Daddy!" she called as she hugged him tightly.

"I was so worried about you baby."

"Umm, Robert? I'm really sorry for the mess that my son has made. You can rest assured that he will be dealt with." The sheriff came over and took off his hat. As for the damages, can we just subtract this from your total?"

Mr. Hale was shocked, "Uhh, sure, yea that works for me."

We walked out into the office to see Royce sulking in the corner and Carlisle, Esme and Emmett sitting on the other side of the room.

"Oh thank goodness you are here Dr. Cullen, I think Rosalie may have been cut my some of the glass." The sheriff noted.

"Of course Sheriff King, I was lucky that my wife's car needed fixing. If I had been a few minutes later we wouldn't have been so fortunate. I had told Emmett that I would come pick him up as well, he said he needed to get a few things out of his looker."

Emmett was in a death-match staring contest with Royce. As Carlisle was speaking realization hit Royce

"I was framed Dad!" He cried out hysterically. "They all set me up! I heard McCormack saying that Mrs. Cullen's car was working fine! And I could have sworn that I heard Mr. Hale here earlier!" he kept rambling pointing to each of them in turn.

"Even if they did, which I highly doubt it, then you still broke the window in my squad car. Now I thought I told you to get in the car."

"Yes Sir." He glowered darkly at Emmett and Rosalie who were hugging each other in the corner before he walked out the door.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble he caused." The sheriff apologized again. "I'll get back to you about settling up."

Emmett and Rosalie held onto each other and didn't say a word to each other. They didn't need to. They were finally safe, finally able to be with each other without living in fear.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the epilogue is coming soon.**

**~StP**


	14. Chapter 14

_AN: Thank you sarcasticgirl1515 for reminding me that this is waaaaaay over due..._

_My sincere apologies for being so late... it really is in excusable. I really just haven't been inspired to finish this one to tell you the honest truth. I have been so obsessed with this new series that I'm working on that I haven't done my other stories justice, so I hope that this will be a fitting ending for our beloved Rosalie and Emmett! Reviews and likes are always welcomed and appreciated so don't be shy! _

_I have enjoyed working on this fanfiction and look forward to the start of many more! _

**Epilogue: A Rose by any other name**

"Rosalie! It's time to go!" Bella shouted from the foot of the stairs.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Rosalie shouted from their small bedroom upstairs.

It had been four months since Royce attacked her, since everything had quieted down around the garage. Royce had been sent away to a quiet place to work out his 'issues' somewhere upstate and we hadn't heard much from him since. Mrs. King still couldn't look the Hale's in the eye much less talk to them anymore but it wasn't like they had much of a friendship with her before then. With Emmett's help they paid off the rest of their debt to the Sherriff and Robert Hale could finally relax and enjoy life a little.

Bella and Edward had spent a lot of time together over the rest of the summer break, nearly inseparable. Edward still felt guilty over her getting hurt at his house and practically raked himself over the coals for it. Bella really seemed to like him, so Rosalie was happy for them.

Mrs. Jenkins had died two months ago, and with no one to take care of Bella and Jasper, Esme had agreed to take care of them. Alice had claimed Jasper as her new playmate and she wasn't going to share him with anyone else. He didn't seem to mind much. Every time Rosalie or Robert left him with Esme Jasper had this big dopey grin on his face.

So with everything pretty much settled that still left one question….

What to do with Rosalie and her new found freedom.

She looked back around the small bedroom she had shared with her little sister, remembering. All the crying that they both did after their mother's accident, crying over bruises and scrapes, laughing over something that happened at school, or just sitting quietly knowing that they were here for each other.

Rosalie loaded up the last few books that were lying on the floor and stuffed them into her duffle bag and ran downstairs to her waiting family.

"Okay, I'm ready to go." She smiled.

Robert got into his car Rosalie got into Angie, finally fully restored. It had taken her and Emmett working nonstop almost all summer to do it but they had finally finished her.

Thinking of Emmett made her heart a little heavier and she sighed.

Emmett was another problem all together.

"So you're not mad are you?" She bit her lip nervously.

"No, I'm not." He smiled back, like he didn't have a care in the world.

They were sitting on the bench at the park close to his house. She had ran this conversation through her head fifty times on the way over there but didn't know how it was going to turn out.

"And you don't think I'm running away from my problems?" She still felt unsure about his acceptance of her plan. It seemed to be going along too well.

Emmett laughed and pulled her closer. "You're such a worry wart you know that?"

"Sorry, it just doesn't feel fair to you." She put her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I'm not gonna be here every day… I'll only be able to visit on holidays…"

"If this is what you want to do I can wait." He pulled her face back up with his fingers under her chin gently. "You don't have to worry, I'll be here when you come back, and I can still come and visit right?"

"Oh the trouble you could get into at an all-girl's college…." She grinned playfully.

She pulled her bag over her head and placed it in the empty passenger side. The back seat and trunk were loaded down with her things and she pulled away from the curb and followed behind her father's car that was also loaded down.

Rosalie had decided to apply for an early college program at an all-girl college in the next state. It was time for a fresh start, she decided. With her good grades in school she was able to get in without much difficulty, and she was headed up to her aunt's house which wasn't far from the college. She had told Emmett of her plans but not when she was leaving, she just couldn't see herself telling him goodbye, not after everything they had been through. So her leaving without saying it would probably hurt him more than anything else she had done but it was still better this way. Or so she thought.

"Where is he going?" Rosalie frowned as she followed her father down through the roads in town that were going in the opposite direction from where they were supposed to be going. She started getting worried when she realized where they were headed. Calm down Rosalie, he's not there anymore.

Robert pulled up at the garage and got out of the car. She pulled in behind him and made no move to get out of the car. He sighed and walked over to her window and waited for her to roll it down.

"I've gotta get some paperwork out of the office, it may take a few minutes, why don't you come in."

She looked and Bella and Jasper were already walking towards the office door with their heads close together whispering back and forth to one another.

"I don't think so Daddy…" Rosalie shook her head. "I'm fine out here." She hadn't been back in the garage since 'the incident' and hadn't planned on making a return visit.

"Rosie, it's nearly 95 degrees out here, you're gonna burn up out in this car, it's alright to come inside baby, just for a minute."

"Alright fine." She unbuckled herself and walked close behind him into the office.

She wasn't expecting what she found when she went inside.

Esme and Carlisle we're the first people she saw smiling at her warmly. Then she turned to see Alice and Jasper giggling with each other. Then there was Edward and Bella sitting on the couch smiling at her while trying not to look at one another. Then there was the entire mechanics crew whooping and hollering like a bunch of frat boys at a football game, she had to laugh at that point.

"SURPRISE!" They all yelled at her.

"What is this?" She turned back to her father laughing.

"They wanted to throw you a surprise going away party." He smiled.

"I can't believe this…." She turned back to everyone. "Thanks you guys."

McCormack came up and hugged her. "You didn't think we would let our favorite receptionist leave without saying goodbye did you?"

Esme had spent the entire day fixing sandwiches for everyone as well as a few other little finger foods that were sitting now nearly empty on the desk that Rosalie once called her own. Rosalie was truly grateful for everything that Esme had done for her family over the summer. There was truly no way to pay her back for that now. She wouldn't even let Rosalie thank her for it any more.

"I enjoy doing this Rosalie." Esme assured her.

"I still appreciate it." Rosalie bit her lip and turned back to the door again.

"What is it dear?" Esme picked up on everything….

"You said Emmett had gone to Tennessee this weekend?"

"Yes," Esme sighed clearly as upset as Rosalie was that he wasn't there. "he said he needed to go see his father and mother. I'm sorry he couldn't be here."

"It's fine Esme… don't worry." Rosalie couldn't help but feel a little pang of sadness that she was really going to leave without telling him goodbye.

Esme put a comforting hand on her shoulder and a sympathetic smile before she turned back to Alice and Jasper who were dancing in the floor to their own made up song.

Rosalie made her way over to the door making polite conversation with her guests, really not feeling in the mood to celebrate, and sat down outside.

Seeing all her friends and family here, throwing her a going away party, really made her regret her decision.

What if she couldn't make it at this new school?

What if Bella misses her too much at home?

What if she missed Bella to much?

What if Jasper gets another scrapped knee? Who would take care of him?

What would her father do without her there to pick out his ties every morning?

What would any of them do without her?

What would Emmett do?

Would he be content with being a lowly janitor at a small garage waiting for his… whatever she was to him, to come back from her self-discovery mission?

Would he be angry and resentful when she came back, would he hate her?

Or would he even be there at all? He had just made a little promise, they are so easily broken. He could just leave whenever he wanted to….

She didn't know when she'd began to cry but she did nothing to stop the tears as she thought of how much she was going to miss her big teddy bear.

"Please don't cry Rosie…."

She looked up and all she could see through her tears was a mountain of a man with curly brown hair.

"Emmett? You came?" Her exuberance at his appearance was marred by sobs as she jumped up to hug him.

"Of course I came. Why wouldn't I?" He hugged her back nearly crushing her.

"Esme said you were in Tennessee…"

"Well you know I like to make dramatic entrances."

"Oh shut up…"

He laughed at her and held her closer if that was even possible.

"Can't breathe Emmett…" She reminded him playfully.

"Oh, sorry." He grinned sheepishly and let go of her, holding her hand gently in his.

Esme scolded him for not telling her he was coming home early but soon forgave him. The kids all dog piled on top of him giggling as he tickled them. Robert stood off to the side with Carlisle smiling at them all.

The party ended soon after that and Rosalie was at the door thanking everyone for coming. Esme hugged her tightly before kissing her cheek and whispering her goodbyes in Rosalie's ear, Carlisle patted her shoulder gently before following his wife out, Rosalie bent down so that Alice could blow a raspberry on her face and then giggle as she ran off after her parents, and Edward shook hands with her awkwardly before telling her goodbye. Emmett was still hanging out at the back with a few mechanics who were still hanging around.

"Thanks for doing this for me Daddy." Rosalie smiled at her father, overwhelmed with his love and generosity.

"I made the suggestion; Esme was the one who put it all together. You really got to hand it to her; she really knows how to throw a party. It's like she's super-human or something."

"Well, it was still nice." Rose moved closer to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I love you Daddy."

"I love you too Rosie." Robert tried not to cry. "I'm gonna miss you kiddo."

"Me too." She smiled.

Robert took Bella and Jasper outside and soon it was just Rosalie and Emmett left in the small room.

"So…"

"So…."

Who knew they could be this articulate?

They were standing on opposite sides of the room, not sure what to do with themselves. Usually when they were alone they would go out and work on Angie, but with her fixed up now….

"So you're leaving then?" Emmett tried again to make conversation.

"Yeah…" Rosalie couldn't explain how those words affected her heart.

"You're coming back too right?" he verified, moving closer.

"I will, for holidays and all that." She took a few steps towards him.

"And it's only a few hours' drive from here."

"Yup, last time I checked, only a few."

They were nearly a foot from each other when they stopped, not sure what to do next. Rosalie was the first to break it this time.

"You'll still wait for me?"

"I wouldn't go anywhere else without you Rosie, I can wait." He smiled. "Esme still needs the extra money from my job now that she has your brother and sister to look out for, and who else is gonna take care of your old man. And I-"

He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence before she reached up and kissed him soundly on the lips. His hands found their way to her waist and lifted her up to make it more comfortable for her. It was so different to anything else she had experienced with Royce but it was so much better than she had expected. Emmett was warm and gentle, just like he was in everything else he did.

They broke apart after a few minutes, both of them breathless and smiling at one another.

"I love you Emmett McCarty." She breathed.

"I love you Rosalie Lillian Hale." He beamed down at her with his bright blue eyes.


End file.
